The Tigray War (2020–2022) left a deep and lasting impact not only on Tigray, but also on the wider Horn of Africa. In this second book in a three-part series, the authors examine the devastation wrought by the war on Tigray’s cultural heritage and identity. The deliberate destruction of ancient cultural sites and the assault on the Tigrayan people’s identity have fueled a desire for greater autonomy among the people of Tigray to protect their future. Through the lens of Panarchy, this book explores how the war’s effects extend far beyond Tigray, reshaping the dynamics of the entire region. Crucially, it uncovers Eritrea’s secret role in the conflict, which was deliberately concealed by Ethiopia. Eritrean forces were implicated not only in atrocities, but also in the use of particularly cruel and inhumane sexual violence, intended to break the spirit of the Tigrayan people and erase Tigray as an ethnic and cultural group. This ethnographic research, conducted in collaboration with universities inside and outside Ethiopia, reveals the profound transformations caused by the war, with consequences that will reverberate for years to come. It sheds light on the war’s long- term impact and highlights the urgent need for international attention on the challenges faced by Tigray and the wider region.

The Tigray War (2020–2022) may have claimed as many as 700,000 lives. Fought between the national defence forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Tigray Defence Forces, the conflict unleashed horrific atrocities on civilians, including widespread massacres. The war was shrouded in secrecy due to a communications blackout and a siege on Tigray, making it nearly impossible for people in the region to report on events and for the outside world to grasp the scale of the tragedy. This book, the first in a three-part series, uncovers Eritrea’s concealed role in the war, including its involvement in massacres and particularly cruel and inhumane sexual violence. These acts were designed not only to terrorise, but to break the spirit of the Tigrayan people, with the aim of erasing Tigray as an ethnic and cultural group. This book also explores how the war has fundamentally altered the Tigray region—a transformation that may be difficult to reverse—described through the lens of the concept of hysteresis. Drawing on a collaborative investigation between universities inside and outside Ethiopia, and primarily employing an ethnographic approach, the study concludes that genocide may have occurred in Tigray. The international community, it argues, has a duty to investigate these claims.

In this third book in the series on the Tigray War (2020–2022), the focus shifts to the devastating consequences of the siege and communication blackout imposed during the war, which plunged the region into a ‘digital black hole’. The war’s invisible nature—at a time when international support was most crucial—posed immense challenges for researchers, humanitarian organisations, and healthcare workers trying to address the growing crisis. The extreme assault on Tigray’s healthcare system during the war is highlighted, with Eritrea identified as a major perpetrator, able to commit atrocities with impunity due to its hidden role. Despite these hardships, this book also illuminates the remarkable courage and resilience of the people of Tigray. It explores how, in the face of adversity, they remained focused, committed, and innovative, developing new ways to stay connected and communicate, even in isolation. Through these stories of agency, the book sheds light on the ingenuity and creativity that emerged in the midst of profound hardship, demonstrating the unyielding spirit of the people of Tigray.

This book takes a new approach on understanding causes of extreme poverty and promising actions to address it. Its focus is on marginality being a root cause of poverty and deprivation. “Marginality” is the position of people on the edge, preventing their access to resources, freedom of choices, and the development of capabilities. The book is research based with original empirical analyses at local, national, and local scales; book contributors are leaders in their fields and have backgrounds in different disciplines. An important message of the book is that economic and ecological approaches and institutional innovations need to be integrated to overcome marginality. The book will be a valuable source for development scholars and students, actors that design public policies, and for social innovators in the private sector and non-governmental organizations.​

Disasters and History offers the first comprehensive historical overview of hazards and disasters. Drawing on a range of case studies, including the Black Death, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Fukushima disaster, the authors examine how societies dealt with shocks and hazards and their potentially disastrous outcomes. They reveal the ways in which the consequences and outcomes of these disasters varied widely not only between societies but also within the same societies according to social groups, ethnicity and gender. They also demonstrate how studying past disasters, including earthquakes, droughts, floods and epidemics, can provide a lens through which to understand the social, economic and political functioning of past societies and reveal features of a society which may otherwise remain hidden from view. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The dry forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa are major ecosystems, with a broad range of strong economic and cultural incentives for keeping them intact. However, few people are aware of their importance, compared to tropical rainforests, despite them being home to more than half of the continent's population. This unique book brings together scientific knowledge on this topic from East, West, and Southern Africa and describes the relationships between forests, woodlands, people and their livelihoods. Dry forest is defined as vegetation dominated by woody plants, primarily trees, the canopy of which covers more than 10 per cent of the ground surface, occurring in climates with a dry season of three months or more. This broad definition - wider than those used by many authors - incorporates vegetation types commonly termed woodland, shrubland, thicket, savanna, wooded grassland, as well as dry forest in its strict sense. The book provides a comparative analysis of management experiences from the different geographic regions, emphasizing the need to balance the utilization of dry forests and woodland products between current and future human needs. Further, the book explores the techniques and strategies that can be deployed to improve the management of African dry forests and woodlands for the benefit of all, but more importantly, the communities that live off these vegetation formations. Thus, the book lays a foundation for improving the management of dry forests and woodlands for the wide range of products and services they provide.

The complex and dynamic interlinks between natural resource management (NRM) and development have long been recognized by national and international research and development organizations and have generated voluminous literature. However, much of what is available in the form of university course books, practical learning manuals and reference materials in NRM is based on experiences from outside Africa. Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa: A Resource Book provides an understanding of the various levels at which NRM issues occur and are being addressed scientifically, economically, socially and politically. The book's nine chapters present state-of-the-art perspectives within a holistic African context. The book systematically navigates the tricky landscape of integrated NRM, with special reference to Eastern and Southern Africa, against the backdrop of prevailing local, national, regional and global social, economic and environmental challenges. The authors' wide experience, the rich references made to emerging challenges and opportunities, and the presentation of different tools, principles, approaches, case studies and processes make the book a rich and valuable one-stop resource for postgraduate students, researchers, policymakers and NRM practitioners. The book is designed to help the reader grasp in-depth NRM perspectives and presents innovative guidance for research design and problem solving, including review questions, learning activities and recommended further reading. The book was developed through a writeshop process by a multi-disciplinary team of lecturers from the University of Nairobi, Egerton University, Kenyatta University, the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Malawi, Makerere University and the University of Dar es Salam. In addition, selected NRM experts from regional and international research organizations including the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Africa Forest Forum, RUFORUM, IIRR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) participated in the writeshop and contributed material to the book.