252 Scarcity and Surfeit
source of conflict between the Ogaden and the Ishaq Somali clans, shared as
they were among the Ishaq, the Dolbahanda, the Marehan, the Bayedehan and
the Ogade11.2~
Earlier competition to control the Haud pastures rarely entailed large loss of life.
Instead, traditional institutions (known as the diya) effectively contained and
resolved these types of conflicts. Following the colonial scramble for control of
the Horn of Africa, conflicts took on a more political nature. The Ogaden, where
the Haud pastures are situated, came under Ethiopian territory under the 1887
Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement. Since the Ishaq were under British administered
Somaliland and outside Ethiopian territory, claim to the Haud pastures between
the Ogaden and Ishaq clans became a territorial dispute.
Markakis explains, "The border was a serious obstacle to the pastoralists
of the British colony because it impeded their entry to the Haud. The Ogaden,
on the other hand, were increasingly resentful of such intrusions in what they
had come to consider their own territory ..."25 Subsequently, after the border
was demarcated, control of the Haud pastures became increasingly political.
The Ogaden and the Ishaq shifted their allegiances to the Somalian and
Ethiopian governments, as well as rebel groups, as was politically expedient.
Underlying Sources of Conflict
There is no single source of conflict in Ethiopia. Instead, many factors inter-
twine and overlap to lead to the onset and perpetuation of conflict. Access to
and control of resources by the state and other factions is a critical dimen-
sion of conflict, although the immediate sources of conflict are typically
expressed in ethnic, territorial, ideological, or class terms.
The ethnic conflicts that have featured prominently in Ethiopia to date also
stem from the marginalisation of some groups by a state that monopolises
control over the production and distribution of resources. By holding such
power over resources, the state has the ability to favour one group, histori-
cally the highland Amhara and Tigrai ruling elites in Ethiopia, while dis-
criminating against other groups, such as the Oromo or Somali in the south
and east. Dissidence and rebellion flourish when certain areas or groups are
neglected in the process of development and allocation of resources.
The peripheries in Ethiopia, where most pastoralists live, were neglected
for a long time and have never really been economically and socially inte-
grated into Ethiopia. When there was an attempt to do so the development
needs of the community itself were not considered. For instance, a highland
agricultural economy was imposed on the Afars in the Awash Basin and
development in the Basin has favoured commercial farmers and state part-
ners. The interests and development needs of the Afar pastoralists were rarely
accounted for, sparking conflict between the Afar pastoralists and the state?'