New Perspectives on Land Dispossession, Violent Conflict and Migration in the West African Sahel

LANDRESPONSE investigates the links between land dispossession, elite capture, and smallholder responses, including violent resistance and migration, in the Sahel, focusing on Mali.

Subsidie
€ 2.095.696
2022

Projectdetails

Introduction

Farmers and pastoralists in the Sahel continuously struggle to maintain control over land faced with rent-seeking elites, processes of modernization, and uncertain land rights. The hypothesis of LANDRESPONSE is that smallholders who are dispossessed of access to land are more inclined to either migrate or resist violently.

Research Focus

Violent resistance will be studied in this project with regard to the increasing numbers of armed groups labelled ‘jihadist’ in the Sahel, and in particular in Mali. The project will investigate the nature of the links between:

  1. Land dispossession and elite capture
  2. Violent jihadist resistance to governments
  3. Migration to North Africa and Europe

These hypothesized links will be investigated using mixed methods, with a particular focus on Mali as a ‘hub’ country in the Western Sahel in terms of both violence and migration.

Objectives

Following this conceptual framework, the objectives directing the project will be:

  1. To investigate whether smallholders in the West African Sahel who are dispossessed of their land and/or fall victim to rent-seeking elites are more inclined to either resist violently or migrate.
  2. To assess why some smallholders are more prone to resist, even violently, while others remain compliant.

Methodology

With its pioneering engagement with these urgent political issues, the project will combine theoretical and empirical approaches from:

  • Political ecology
  • Critical agrarian studies
  • Peace and conflict studies

This combination aims to generate novel insights about the motivations and agency of smallholders confronted with emerging challenges to their livelihoods.

Expected Outcomes

This interdisciplinary research will generate new knowledge on the interactions between land governance, violent conflicts, and migration. The findings will both push the research frontier and provide new ideas for policy formulation.

Financiële details & Tijdlijn

Financiële details

Subsidiebedrag€ 2.095.696
Totale projectbegroting€ 2.095.696

Tijdlijn

Startdatum1-10-2022
Einddatum30-9-2027
Subsidiejaar2022

Partners & Locaties

Projectpartners

  • NORGES MILJO-OG BIOVITENSKAPLIGE UNIVERSITETpenvoerder

Land(en)

Norway

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