2 Scarcity and Surfeitilluminates the role that resources, both scarce and abundant, play among
other variables in the onset and escalation of the violent conflicts portrayed. By
focusing attention on the 'ecological variable', as an underestimated factor
among more commonly cited ethnic, religious, weak state or other reasons for
conflicts in places like Sudan, Rwanda and Somalia, this book enriches rather
than reduces the debate on Africa's wars.
Often considered to face 'the greatest challenges to peace and stability',
the African continent has been stage to ten high-intensity conflicts in the past
25 years, suffering casualties which range between 3 800 000 and 6 800 000
people and an astounding 155 million people directly or indirectly affected
by war.
There is a complex relationship between ecology and conflict in sub-
Saharan Africa, involving multiple actors, divergent and often conflicting
interests, located at several levels of analysis. The access to and control of
valuable natural resources, including minerals, oil, timber, productive pas-
tures and farming land, have been crucial factors in the occurrence of violent
conflicts across the continent. In their widest sense, the use and control of
ecological resources as causes of conflicts has been motivated by both griev-
ance and greed. Moreover, grievance related to the unjust and inequitable
distribution of land and natural resources in many regions of Africa, and
greed for valuable ecological resources have in many instances been the
underlying causes of armed conflicts.
The consequences of conflicts linked to ecological control are staggering.
Conflict in Sudan has resulted in an estimated two million deaths since 1983,
as well as a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. Similarly, Africa's
'First World War' in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resulted in an
estimated 1.5 million deaths since 1998. Despite the extent, scope, and
impact of conflict, crime and violence, the opportunity remains to redress
and rectify access to and control over the continent's varied natural
resources. It is hoped that this book will contribute to more substantial poli-
cy, legal and institutional reform of natural resource distribution and control,
as a prerequisite for sustainable conflict prevention and resolution in Africa.Developing Theories of Conflict Analysis
During the Cold War, the study of armed conflict and war was largely sys-
temic in orientation and other conflicts were seen as 'proxy wars', 'small
wars' or 'low intensity conflicts', to a large extent a product and creation of
bipolarity. Systemic, global or world wars attracted the major part of schol-
arly attention, both within the field of international relations as well as strate-
gic studies. Because the traumatic experiences of two world wars demon-
strated that these wars produced far greater and graver consequences than