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Africa: Scramble for Resources a Major Cause of Continent's Conflicts

Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
NEWS
December 14, 2004
Posted to the web December 14, 2004
Nairobi
Contested rights to land and natural resources are a significant element in the
dynamics of conflict in the Great Lakes Region, a conference on land conflicts
held in Nairobi, Kenya, has heard.
The conference, which opened in Nairobi on December 14, 2004, was convened to
consider issues relating to land conflict, prevention, mitigation, and
construction. It ends on December 15.
Conflict over natural resources, of which land is the most important asset, is
an almost universal phenomenon. In view of this, the African Centre for
Technology Studies (ACTS) noted at the conference that new changes -like those
involving the environment- could play an important role in turning an otherwise
peaceful coexistence between groups into a hostile confrontation or even a
full-scale war.
"When there is change in the environment the capacity of land to sustain
people's livelihoods shrinks; but when that is combined with population
increase a recipe for conflict is already underway," noted Dr Musa Adam, a
researcher speaking at the function.
He was concerned that Africa changed from a continent of land abundance to one
of land scarcity in the 20th century, as a result of rapid population growth,
slow economic development and environmental degradation in most countries.
The contemporary struggle for land is not confined to peasants. On the list
also are the landless, farm workers, retrenched mineworkers, industrial and
urban-based workers and the middle classes.
Kenya was recognised for playing host and mediator to neighbouring countries
whose citizens had fought over the allocation of land and natural resources.
The Declaration reached at Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, at a meeting on Peace,
Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region (November 19-20,
2004), states that illegal exploitation of natural resources is one of the
causes of the endemic conflicts in the region.
Present at the function were many actors in the area of land tenure and
conflict management in Africa.
They included Kenya's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Eng Erastus
Mwongera, ACTS Executive Director, Prof Judy Wakhungu, politicians and
diplomats, policy makers and senior civil servants, development partners,
international organizations and organs of the United Nations.
Eng Mwongera noted that land is central to economic and social development in
sub-Saharan Africa, contributing a major share of the Gross National Product
(GDP) and the main source of livelihoods.

   

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