Resource Stress and Violent Conflicts in Borderlands: Toward A Mechanism-Oriented Approach

Abstract

This thesis explores how socio-ecological processes induced by resource stress in borderland contexts contribute to the dynamics of violent conflict. It adopts an actor-focused and context-sensitive approach to break down these processes into analytically smaller components through the theoretical lens of mechanisms. In doing so, the thesis responds to the growing call within the environmental conflict research field to reorient the analytical focus toward causal mechanisms in order to better understand the relationship between resource stress and violent conflicts. The study uses the Ethiopia-Kenya borderland as a case study and examines how the construction of Gibe cascading dams by the Ethiopian state and climate change have jointly impacted the Turkana (Kenya) and Dassenech (Ethiopia) borderland communities. The analysis reveals that these combined resource stressors have led the Turkana and Dassenech borderland communities to experience significant declines in flood-retreat agricultural output, fishery yields, and livestock productivity. Traditional adaptation strategies, such as fluid movement between livelihood systems and extensive herding mobility, have proven inadequate under these new pressures. Additionally, traditional and informal institutional arrangements for resource sharing and conflict resolution have struggled to cope effectively with the increased stress. Collectively, these processes have exacerbated cross-border competition and violent conflicts between the Dassenech and Turkana communities. The thesis contributes to the broader environmental conflict research field in several ways. First, it identifies several case-specific mechanisms that substantiate existing conceptually aggregated understanding of them and sheds light on new ones. Second, by showing these mechanisms interact and produce cascading effects, the thesis underscores the need to consider interactions between mechanisms within the broader literature. Third, the thesis offers empirical insights related to borderland contexts by demonstrating how socio-ecological, governance, economic, and security conditions in borderland areas intersect with resource stress and violent conflict. Fourth, the thesis demonstrates the usefulness of actor-focused, context-sensitive, and mechanism-oriented approaches in furthering our understanding of the relationship between resource stress and violent conflict. Fifth, by focusing on the Omo-Turkana Basin's recent socio-ecological transformations and their broader societal implications, the study provides original data and analysis from the perspectives of the affected communities on the impact of these changes on the conflict dynamics between the borderland communities of Ethiopia and Kenya.