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The Nuer pastoralists : between large scale agriculture and villagization : a case study of the Lare District in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia
No full text"Ethiopia has shown encouraging economic development in the past years. The swirls of economic bubbles are impacting the different regions of the country. At the moment, there are several national and regional development projects being implemented in the Gambella Region in Western Ethiopia. However, being part ofthe development scheme of the federal state does not necessarily guarantee that this peripheral region will be integrated and brought closer to the political, cultural and economic core. This report is an attempt to contribute to this debate by focusing on two major themes: large-scale agriculture and the villagization programmes. It examines the dynamics of Gambella’s political economy and the process of incorporating the region – and the Nuer transhumant communities in particular – into the national economy. Specifically, it explores how processes of commercial farming investments and the villagization programme impact Nuer pastoralists. A policy recommendation to be concluded from this research is to acknowledge the nexus between two pastoral development approaches – pastoral area development vs. pastoralism development – so as to make them run in tandem without one excluding the other. By recognising them as mutually reinforcing, pastoralism could be promoted while resources are developed.
Who put the 'Post' in the Post-Arab Spring? : Towards a Fresh Narrative for North Africa
No full textWhen will we see a regional UN headquarter for migration in Rabat, or a centre of excellence for ocean studies in Tripoli? In this policy note, NAI researcher Mikael Eriksson recommends outside-the-box thinking, in an effort to gain a fresh perspective on a region that may have lost its spring-time energy, but not the idea itself – or the people behind it
Zouglou Music and Youth in Urban Burkina Faso : Displacement and the Social Performance of Hope
No full textWarlord democrats in Africa : ex-military leaders and electoral politics
No full textPost-war democratization has been identified as a crucial mechanism to build peace in war-ridden societies, supposedly allowing belligerents to compete through ballots rather than bullets. A byproduct of this process, however, is that military leaders often become an integral part of the new democratic system, using resources and networks generated from the previous war to dominate the emerging political landscape. The crucial and thus-far overlooked question to be addressed, therefore, is what effect the inclusion of ex-militaries into electoral politics has on post-war security. Can 'warlord democrats' make a positive contribution by shepherding their wartime constituencies to support the building of peace and democracy, or are they likely to use their electoral platforms to sponsor political violence and keep war-affected communities mobilized through aggressive discourses? This important volume, containing a wealth of fresh empirical detail and theoretical insight, and focussing on some of Africa's most high-profile political figures – from Paul Kagame to Riek Machar to Afonso Dhlakama – represents a crucial intervention in the literature of post-war democratization.CONTENTS: Introduction: Warlord democrats: wartime investments, democratic returns? / Anders Themnér -- 1. Pompier-pyromanocracy: Mbusa Nyamwisi and the DR Congo’s inflammable post-settlement political order / Judith Verweijen -- 2. Apotheosis of a warlord: Paul Kagame / Lars Waldorf -- 3. Discourses of peace and fear: the electoral navigations of Sekou Conneh and Prince Johnson in post-war Liberia / Carrie Manning and Anders Themnér -- 4. Afonso Dhlakama and RENAMO’s return to armed conflict since 2013: the politics of reintegration in Mozambique / Alex Vines -- 5. From warlord to drug lord: the life of João Bernardo “Nino” Vieira / Henrik Vigh -- 6. Shape-shifters in the struggle for survival: post-war politics in Sierra Leone / Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs and Ibrahim Bangura -- 7. Riek Machar: warlord-doctor in South Sudan / Johan Brosché and Kristine Höglund -- Conclusion: Ambiguous peacelords: the diminishing returns of post-war democracy / Anders Themnér</p
Ethiopia in the United Nations Security Council 2017-2018
No full textEnforce the ‘African solutions to African problems’ principle in the UN and promote cooperation with the African Union and its regional communities. That is what Ethiopia should work for during its two-year term in the Security Council. To perform on this global stage, the Ethiopian government has to address its domestic democracy and governance issues
Africa bridging the digital divides
No full textAfrica’s leapfrogging information and communication technology development is fueled by mobile broadband. The number of mobile-broadband subscriptions on the continent has increased more than 15 times over the past six years, a growth rate that is three times the global average. However, there are also worrying trends, such as a growing digital divide between men and women, and between urban and rural areas
Private security in Africa : from the global assemblage to the everyday
No full textAcross Africa, growing economic inequality, instability and urbanization have led to the rapid spread of private security providers. While these PSPs have already had a significant impact on African societies, their impact has so far received little in the way of comprehensive analysis. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary approaches, and encompassing anthropology, sociology and political science, Private Security in Africa offers unique insight into the lives and experiences of security providers and those affected by them, as well as into the fragile state context which has allowed them to thrive. Featuring original empirical research and case studies ranging from private policing in South Africa to the recruitment of Sierra Leoneans for private security work in Iraq, the book considers the full implications of PSPs for security and the state, not only for Africa but for the world as a whole.CONTENTS: Introduction / Paul Higate -- 1. Golden Assemblages: Security and Development in Tanzania’s Gold Mines / Rita Abrahamsen and Michael Williams -- 2. Failed, Fake or Weak State: The Role of Private Security in Somalia / William Reno -- 3. Private Security Beyond the Private Sector: Community Policing and Secret Societies in Sierra Leone / Peter Albrecht -- 4. The Underbelly of Global Security: Sierra Leoneans in Iraq / Maya Mynster Christensen -- 5. Who do you Call? Private Security Policing in Durban, South Africa / Tessa Diphoorn -- 6. Security Sector Reform as Trojan Horse? New Security Assemblages of Privatised Military Training in Liberia / Marcus Mohlin -- 7. Political Becoming and Non-State Emergence in Kenya’s Security Sector: Mungiki as Security Operator / Jacob Rasmussen -- 8. Parapluies Politiques: The Everyday Politics of Private Security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo / Peer Schouten -- Epilogue: African Assemblages of private security / Mats Utas</p
Cocoa in post-conflict Liberia : the role of institutions for the development of inclusive agricultural markets
No full textLiberia has a long history of non-inclusive development with dire consequences for its population, in terms of poverty and conflict. This research explores recent trends in the post-war Liberian cocoa market that suggest a possible break with the past. Structural changes in the cocoa market are found to have strengthened the bargaining power of smallholder farmers and increased their market participation on increasingly beneficial terms in a number of ways – such as a larger share of the world-market price and better access to inputs and services. The cocoa market has become more inclusive. The research explains how a series of institutional changes – changes in the formal and informal rules of the game – have contributed to this process and suggests why. It identifies four major causal mechanisms that help us better understand the role that institutions can play in making agricultural markets more inclusive – in Liberia and beyond.Contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. Theory, Methods and Data -- 3. The Liberian Cocoa Market – Background and Significance – 4. Changing Market Structure and Market Power -- 5. Implications for Smallholder Participation and Benefit -- 6. Major Institutional Changes - Contributing Explanations -- 7. An Institutional Explanation: Causal Mechanism -- 8. Conclusions</p
The future of African peace operations : from the Janjaweed to Boko Haram
No full textFacing threats ranging from Islamist insurgences to the Ebola pandemic, African regional actors are playing an increasingly vital role in safeguarding peace and stability across the continent. But while the African Union has demonstrated its ability to deploy forces on short notice and in difficult circumstances, the challenges posed by increasingly complex conflict zones have revealed a widening divide between the theory and practice of peacekeeping. With the AU ’s African Standby Force becoming fully operational in 2016, this timely and much-needed work argues that responding to these challenges will require a new and distinctively African model of peacekeeping, as well as a radical revision of the current African security framework. The first book to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of African peace operations, The Future of African Peace Operations gives a long overdue assessment of the ways which peacekeeping on the continent has evolved overthe past decade. It will be a vital resource for policy makers, researchers and all those seeking solutions and insights into the immense security challenges which Africa is facing today.CONTENTS: 1. Towards an African model of peace operations /Cedric de Coning, Linnéa Gelot and John Karlsrud -- 2. Confronting hybrid threats in Africa: improving multidimensional responses / Kwesi Aning and Mustapha Abdallah -- 3. Stabilization missions and mandates in African peace operations: implications for the ASF? / Solomon A. Dersso -- 4. The relationship between the AU and the RECs/RMs in relation to peace and security in Africa: subsidiarity and inevitable common destiny / Michelle Ndiaye -- 5. The strategic relationship between the African Union and its partners / Linda Darkwa -- 6. Mission support for African peace operations / Walter Lotze -- 7. United in challenges? The African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises / Jide Martyns Okeke -- 8. What roles for the civilian and police dimensions in African peace operations? / Yvonne Akpasom -- 9. Adapting the African Standby Force to a just-in-time readiness model: improved alignment with the emerging African model of peace operations / Cedric de Coning -- 10. African peace operations: trends and future scenarios,conclusions and recommendations / Cedric de Coning, Linnéa Gelot and John Karlsrud</p