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Property rights conflict, customary institutions and the state: the case of agro-pastoralists in Mieso district, eastern Ethiopia*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2009

Fekadu Beyene
Fekadu Beyene*
Affiliation:
Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Haramaya University, Ethiopia
*
Email: keneefbk@yahoo.com
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Abstract

This paper examines inter-ethnic conflict over grazing land previously accessed as common property. It presents results of a study undertaken in Mieso district of eastern Ethiopia where two ethnic groups maintain different production systems – pastoral and agropastoral. The historical change in land use by one of the ethnic groups, resource scarcity, violation of customary norms, power asymmetry and livestock raids are among the factors that have contributed to the recurrence of conflict. Particularly important is the role of raids in triggering conflict and restricting access to grazing areas. Socio-economic and political factors are responsible for power asymmetry and the increasing scale of raids. An increase in the frequency of violence and a decline in the capacity of customary authority in conflict management advance the role of the state in establishing enforceable property rights institutions. This will succeed only if policies and interventions are redirected at suppressing incentives for violence, establishing new institutional structures in consultation with clan elders of both parties, and building internal capacity to monitor conflict-triggering events.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 213 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

Fieldwork for this study was carried out with the funding support of CAPRi, a joint cooperation project between Haramaya University in Ethiopia and Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany. The scholarship support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is deeply acknowledged. I would like to thank Benedikt Korf and the two anonymous reviewers of The Journal of Modern African Studies.

References

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