Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:25:28.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Human Security Angle of Conflicts: The Case of Farmer–Herder Conflict in Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2022

Samuel Marfo Open the ORCID record for Samuel Marfo [Opens in a new window] ,
Mohammed Hadi Abdul-Ganiy Bolaji  and
Tobias Tseer Open the ORCID record for Tobias Tseer [Opens in a new window]
Samuel Marfo*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science and History, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Post Office Box WA 64, Wa, Ghana
Mohammed Hadi Abdul-Ganiy Bolaji
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science and History, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Post Office Box WA 64, Wa, Ghana
Tobias Tseer
Affiliation:
Ghana Education Service, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana
*
*Corresponding Author: Dr Samuel Marfo, Department of Political Science and History, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Post Office Box WA 64, Wa, Ghana. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In Ghana, the economic costs of violent conflicts (loss of jobs and revenue, drop in gross domestic product, and disruption of production chain) have been well documented. However, there is little scholarly work on such conflicts’ human security costs, a critical element in contemporary security management arrangements. This study examines the costs of violent conflicts from a human security perspective using the farmer–herder conflict in the Agogo community in the Ashanti region of Ghana as a case study. A total of 400 participants were randomly and purposely selected. A χ2 test was employed to determine the association of rape, armed robbery, arson and murder with the farmer–herder conflict. The study found that at a 5% margin of error, the p value for armed robbery was 0.01, rape was 0.01, arson was 0.03 and murder was 0.00, indicating a close association between these variables and the conflict.

Abstracto

Abstracto

En Ghana, los costos económicos de los conflictos violentos – pérdida de empleos e ingresos, caída del PIB e interrupción de la cadena de producción – han sido bien documentados. Sin embargo, hay poco trabajo académico sobre los costos de seguridad humana de tales conflictos, un elemento crítico en los arreglos contemporáneos de gestión de la seguridad. Este estudio examina los costos de los conflictos violentos desde una perspectiva de seguridad humana utilizando el conflicto entre agricultores y pastores en la comunidad de Agogo en la región Ashanti de Ghana como estudio de caso. Cuatrocientos participantes fueron seleccionados al azar y deliberadamente. Se empleó una prueba de chi-cuadrado para determinar la asociación de violación, robo a mano armada, incendio provocado y asesinato con el conflicto entre agricultores y pastores. El estudio encontró que con un margen de error del 5%, el valor p para robo a mano armada fue 0,01, violación fue 0,01, incendio provocado fue 0,03 y asesinato fue 0,00, lo que indica una estrecha asociación entre estas variables y el conflicto.

Abstrait

Abstrait

Au Ghana, les coûts économiques des conflits violents – perte d’emplois et de revenus, baisse du PIB et perturbation de la chaîne de production – ont été bien documentés. Cependant, il existe peu de travaux universitaires sur les coûts de sécurité humaine de ces conflits, un élément essentiel des dispositifs contemporains de gestion de la sécurité. Cette étude examine les coûts des conflits violents du point de vue de la sécurité humaine en utilisant le conflit entre agriculteurs et éleveurs dans la communauté d’Agogo dans la région d’Ashanti au Ghana comme étude de cas. Quatre cents participants ont été choisis au hasard et à dessein. Un test du chi carré a été utilisé pour déterminer l’association du viol, du vol à main armée, de l’incendie criminel et du meurtre avec le conflit entre agriculteurs et éleveurs. Lʼétude a révélé qu’avec une marge d’erreur de 5%, la valeur p pour le vol à main armée était de 0,01, le viol de 0,01, l’incendie criminel de 0,03 et le meurtre de 0,00, indiquant une association étroite entre ces variables et le conflit.

抽象的

抽象的

在加纳，暴力冲突的经济成本（工作和收入损失、GDP 下降和生产链中断)已得到充分证明。 然而，关于此类冲突的人类安全成本的学术工作很少，这是当代安全管理安排中的一个关键因素。 本研究以加纳阿散蒂地区 Agogo 社区的农牧冲突为例，从人类安全的角度研究暴力冲突的成本。 400 名参与者是随机和有意选择的。 使用卡方检验来确定强奸、武装抢劫、纵火和谋杀与农牧冲突的关联。 研究发现，在 5% 的误差范围内，武装抢劫的 p 值为 0.01，强奸为 0.01，纵火为 0.03，谋杀为 0.00，表明这些变量与冲突之间存在密切关联。

الملخص

الملخص

في غانا ، تم توثيق التكاليف الاقتصادية للنزاعات العنيفة (فقدان الوظائف والإيرادات ، وانخفاض الناتج المحلي الإجمالي ، وتعطيل سلسلة الإنتاج) بشكل جيد. ومع ذلك ، هناك القليل من العمل الأكاديمي حول تكاليف الأمن البشري لمثل هذه النزاعات ، وهو عنصر حاسم في ترتيبات إدارة الأمن المعاصرة. تبحث هذه الدراسة في تكاليف النزاعات العنيفة من منظور الأمن البشري باستخدام الصراع بين المزارعين والرعاة في مجتمع أغوغو في منطقة أشانتي في غانا كدراسة حالة. تم اختيار أربعمائة مشارك بشكل عشوائي ومتعمد. تم استخدام اختبار chi-square لتحديد ارتباط الاغتصاب والسطو المسلح والحرق العمد والقتل بنزاع المزارعين والرعاة. وجدت الدراسة أنه عند هامش الخطأ 5٪ ، كانت القيمة الاحتمالية للسطو المسلح 0.01 ، والاغتصاب 0.01 ، والحرق العمد 0.03 ، والقتل 0.00 ، مما يشير إلى ارتباط وثيق بين هذه المتغيرات والصراع.

Keywords

human securityconflictfarmer–herder conflictthreatweaponsseguridad humanaconflictoagricultores–pastoresamenazaarmasécurité humaineconflitagriculteurs–eleveursmenacearmes人类安全冲突农牧民威胁武器الأمن البشريالصراعالمزارعين-الرعاةالتهديدالأسلحة
Type
Article
Information
International Annals of Criminology , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 62 - 78
Copyright
© International Society of Criminology 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adeoye, Nathaniel O. 2017. “Land Use Conflict Between Farmers and Herdsmen in Parts of Kano, Yobe and Borno States of Nigeria: Nomads’ Viewpoints.” Ghana Journal of Geography 9(1):127–51.Google Scholar
Agogo Municipal Police Command. 2020. Statistics of Reported Crime Cases at the Agogo Police Station. Agogo, Ghana: Agogo Municipal Police Command Criminal Investigation Department.Google Scholar
Agyemang, Emmanuel. 2017. Farmer–Herder Conflict in Africa: An Assessment of the Causes and Effects of the Sedentary Farmers–Fulani Herdsmen Conflict: A Case Study of the Agogo Traditional Area, Ashanti Region of Ghana. Norway: Universitetet i Agder.Google Scholar
Akov, Emmanuel T. 2017. “The Resource–Conflict Debate Revisited: Untangling the Case of Farmer–Herdsman Clashes in the North Central Region of Nigeria.” African Security Review 26(3):288–307.10.1080/10246029.2017.1294088CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aluko, Opeyemi I. 2017. “Urban Violence Dimension in Nigeria: Farmers and Herders Onslaught.” Agathos 18(14):187–206.Google Scholar
Annan, Kofi. 2005. In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for all. Report of the Secretary-General, A/59/2005. Washington, DC: United Nations.Google Scholar
Antwi, Samuel O. 2018. Farmer–Herder Conflict and Food Security in Kwahu East District, Eastern Region, Ghana. Ås: Norwegian University of Life Sciences.Google Scholar
Arase, Solomon E. and Iwuofor, Iheanyi P. O.. 2007. Policing Nigeria in the Century. Ibadan: Spectrum Books.Google Scholar
Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC). 2014. Report. Disturbances at Agogo on 30th April, 2010. Kumasi, Ghana: REGSEC.Google Scholar
Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC). 2018. Agogo Fulani Cattle Evacuation Committee Report. Kumasi, Ghana: REGSEC.Google Scholar
Atienza, Maria Ela L. 2010. “Developing a Human Index for the Philippine: An Introduction.” Pp. 89–150 in A Human Security Index for the Philippines: An Exploratory Study in Selected Conflict Areas, edited by Maria Ela, L. Atienza. Manila: Third World Studies Center.Google Scholar
Awazi, N. P. and Avana-Tientcheu, M. L.. 2020. “Agroforestry as a Sustainable Means to Farmer–Grazier Conflict Mitigation in Cameroon.” Agroforestry Systems 94:1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boutros-Ghali, B. 1994. Building Peace and Development. New York: UN Department of Public Information.Google Scholar
Bradley, Mariam. 2020. “From Armed Conflict to Urban Violence: Transformations in the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Humanitarianism, and the Laws of War.” European Journal of International Relations 26(4):1061–83.10.1177/1354066120908637CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulus, Simon and Wizor, Collins H.. 2020. “Spatial Analysis of the Impacts of Crop Farmers and Cattle Herders Conflicts on Community Development in Adamawa State, Nigeria.” Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences 10(3):40–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiamogu, Amobi P. and Chiamogu, Uchechukwu P.. 2020. “Ethnicity, Religion, and Governance in Africa: Analyzing the Nigerian Situation.” GSJ 8(8):889–908.Google Scholar
Commission on Human Security. 2003. Human Security Now: Protecting and Empowering People. New York: Commission on Human Security.Google Scholar
Criminal Code of Ghana, 1960 (Act 29). Accra, Ghana: Ghana Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Dal Santo, E. and van der Heide, Elena J.. 2018. “Escalating Complexity in Regional Conflicts: Connecting Geopolitics to Individual Pathways to Terrorism in Mali.” African Security 11(3):274–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization. 2018. Pastoralism in Africa's Drylands: Reducing Risks, Addressing Vulnerability, and Enhancing Resilience. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Ghana Statistical Service. 2012. 2010 Population and Housing Census: Final Results. Accra, Ghana: Ghana Statistical Service.Google Scholar
Ijirshar, Victor Ushahemba, Ker, Godwin, and Clement Terlumun, Yange. 2015. “Socio-Economic Effects of Farmers–Herdsmen Conflict on Farmers’ Output in Benue, Nigeria.” Paper Presented to an International Academic Conference on Nigeria and the Emerging Challenges in the 21st Century: The Way Forward, 25–28 August 2015. Ubuntu, Cross River State, Nigeria.Google Scholar
Institute for Economics and Peace. 2015. Global Peace Index 2015. Sydney: Institute for Economics and Peace.Google Scholar
Jolly, R. and Basu Ray, D.. 2006. National Human Development Reports and the Human Security Framework: A Review of Analysis and Experience. Brighton, Sussex: Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Kothari, C. R. 2004. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, 2nd ed. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers.Google Scholar
Kuusaana, E. D. and Bukari, K. N.. 2015. “Land Conflicts Between Smallholders and Fulani Pastoralists in Ghana: Evidence from the Asante Akim North District (AAND).” Journal of Rural Studies 42:52–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenshie, Nsemba Edward, Okengwu, Kelechi, Ogbonna, Confidence N., and Ezeibe, Christian. 2021. “Desertification, Migration, and Herder–Farmer Conflicts in Nigeria: Rethinking the Ungoverned Spaces Thesis. Small Wars & Insurgencies 32(8):1221–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malainey, Stacey L. and Anderson, Gail S.. 2020. “Effect of Arson Fires on the Survivability of Entomological Evidence on Carcasses Inside Vehicle Trunks.” Forensic Science International 306:110033.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marfo, Samuel. 2015. “Sustaining Development through Policing: Wa Municipality in Perspective.” Journal of Sociology and Social Work 4(1):162–71.Google Scholar
Mbih, Richard A., Driever, Steven L., Ndzeidze, Stephen K., Mbuh, Mbongowo J., Bongadzem, Carine S., and Wirng, Harry M.. 2018. “Fulani Pastoralists’ Transformation Process: A Sustainable Development Approach in the Western Highlands of Cameroon.” Environment, Development and Sustainability 20(2):789–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ntangti, Fabian C., Angwafo, Evaristus T., Gam, Augustine T., and Fokeng, Reeves M.. 2019. “Spatial, Typology and Cause–Effect Analysis of Recurrent Agro-Pastoral Conflicts in Menchum, North West Cameroon.” Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) 3(6):217–26.Google Scholar
Nwokafor, Lilian Chinelo, Obasi, Cletus O., and Ejinwa, Emenike. 2020. “Land Encroachment and Banditry as Emergent Trends in Communal and Inter-Ethnic Conflicts in Nigeria.” Journal of Community & Communication Research 5(2):144–51.Google Scholar
Odalonu, Boris H. 2020. “Appraisal of the Political and Socio-Economic Effects of Farmers-Herders Conflict in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria.” Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences 10(3):367–94.Google Scholar
Okoli, Al Chukwuma and Atelhe, George A.. 2014. “Nomads Against Natives: A Political Ecology of Herder/Farmer Conflicts in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.” American International Journal of Contemporary Research 4(2):76–88.Google Scholar
Olaniyi, Rasheed O. 2015. “Bororo Fulani Pastoralists and Yoruba Farmers’ Conflicts in the Upper Ogun River, Oyo State Nigeria, 1986–2004.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 50(2):239–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otu, Bernard, Impraim, Kojo, and Twumhene, Peter. 2020. “New Dimensions of Farmer–Herder Conflict in the Afram Plains of Ghana: Implications for Human Security.” Journal of Applied Security Research 15(4):484–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmiotto, Michael J. 2000. Community Policing: A Policing Strategy for the 21st Century. Boston, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.Google Scholar
Paolo, Sebastian A. 2020. “The Politics of Addressing Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Ghana.” Peacebuilding 9(1):1–21.Google Scholar
Priehodová, Edita, Frédéric Austerlitz, Martina Čížková, Jana Nováčková, François-Xavier Ricaut, Hofmanová, Zuzana, Schlebusch, Carina M., and Černý, Viktor. 2020. “Sahelian Pastoralism from the Perspective of Variants Associated with Lactase Persistence.” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 173(3):423–36.10.1002/ajpa.24116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skolnick, Jerome H. and Bayley, David H.. 1988. “Theme and Variation in Community Policing.” Crime and Justice 10(8):12–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 1998. Peace, Security and Conflict Prevention: SIPRI-UNESCO Handbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tonah, S. 2006. “Migration and Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Ghana’s Volta Basin.” Canadian Journal of African Studies/La Revue canadienne des études africaines 40(1):152–78.10.1080/00083968.2006.10751339CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations and World Bank. 2018. Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme. 1994. Human Development Report 1994. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 28, 2022 (https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/255/hdr_1994_en_complete_nostats.pdf).Google Scholar
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 2016. “Human and Economic Cost of Conflict in the Horn of Africa: Implications for a Transformative and Inclusive Post-Conflict Development.” Retrieved February 28, 2022 (https://repository.uneca.org/handle/10855/23726).Google Scholar
Wilson, J. Q. and Kelling, G. L.. 1982. “The Police and Neighborhood Safety: Broken Window.” The Atlantic Monthly 3:29–38.Google Scholar