A vivid account of modern pastoralist armed conflict.

This handbook provides critical analyses of the theory and practices of small arms proliferation and its impact on conflicts and organized violence in Africa. It examines the terrains, institutions, factors and actors that drive armed conflict and arms proliferation, and further explores the nature, scope, and dynamics of conflicts across the continent, as well as the extent to which these conflicts are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms. The volume features rich analyses by contributors who are acquainted with, and widely experienced in, the formal and informal structures of arms proliferation and control, and their repercussions on violence, instability and insecurity across Africa. The chapters dissect the challenges of small arms and light weapons in Africa with a view to understanding roots causes and drivers, and generating a fresh body of analyses that adds value to the existing conversation on conflict management and peacebuilding in Africa. With contributions from scholars, development practitioners, defence and security professionals and civil society activists, the handbook seeks to serve as a reference for students, researchers, and policy makers on small arms proliferation, control and regulation; defence and security practitioners; and those involved in countering violence and managing conflicts in Africa.

Once again, the Horn of Africa has been in the headlines. And once again the news has been bad: drought, famine, conflict, hunger, suffering and death. The finger of blame has been pointed in numerous directions: to the changing climate, to environmental degradation, to overpopulation, to geopolitics and conflict, to aid agency failures, and more. But it is not all disaster and catastrophe. Many successful development efforts at ‘the margins’ often remain hidden, informal, sometimes illegal; and rarely in line with standard development prescriptions. If we shift our gaze from the capital cities to the regional centres and their hinterlands, then a very different perspective emerges. These are the places where pastoralists live. They have for centuries struggled with drought, conflict and famine. They are resourceful, entrepreneurial and innovative peoples. Yet they have been ignored and marginalised by the states that control their territory and the development agencies who are supposed to help them. This book argues that, while we should not ignore the profound difficulties of creating secure livelihoods in the Greater Horn of Africa, there is much to be learned from development successes, large and small. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars with an interest in development studies and human geography, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It will also appeal to development policy-makers and practitioners.

Highlights emerging trends and concerns regarding armed violence and small arms proliferation as well as related policies and programming.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of one of the most persistent and perennial types of conflict in Africa– pastoralist-farmer conflicts – and the linkages with conflict management and resolution, vulnerability and displacement, government capacity and deficits, and the role of local and international governmental and non-governmental agencies in the specific Nigerian context. Conflict-induced displacement generates humanitarian and protection issues particularly when the government is unwilling to carry out its responsibility of protecting the civilians in flight. The book fills the intellectual vacuum created on the implications the conflict management mechanisms adopted in resolving pastoralist-farmer conflict have on the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs). It extensively describes the displacement and associated risks and vulnerabilities of IDPs arising from the conflict and the efforts of the different stakeholders in responding to the protection issues. It examines various conflict management mechanisms adopted by stakeholders in resolving pastoralist-farmer conflict and how they have affected the protection of IDPs. It also elucidates the imperativeness of internally displaced persons’ involvement in the management/resolution processes of pastoralist-farmer conflict, which will not only impact the resolution of the conflict but also provide opportunity for their issues of protection to be addressed.