The economics of Cain and Abel: Agro‐pastoral property rights in the Sahel

Ethnic cleansing or resource struggle in Darfur? An empirical analysis

“…Apart from Kevane and Gray (2008), Olsson (2009) develops a theoretical framework for understanding how resource scarcities might give rise to "neo-Malthusian" social con ‡icts and then applies the model in an informal fashion on the Darfuri context. Van den Brink et al (1995) deal with the farmer-pastoralist con ‡icts in the Sahel region to which Darfur belongs. 4 In the wider social science literature, Hagan and Rymond-Richmond (2008) to analyze in detail the nature of the attacks and the scope of human and resource losses in three villages.…”

Managing Resources in Erratic Environments An Analysis of Pastoralist Systems in Ethiopia, Niger, and Burkina Faso

“…However, in their analysis, neither traditional externalities associated with the use of common pastures nor the ability of communities to cooperate is explicitly considered, so that the impact of variability on cooperation and land use are not considered. Furthermore, although many researchers have discussed the benefits of mobility in capturing the value of ex post adjustments to actual rainfall realizations for the individual herder (Thompson and Wilson 1994;van den Brink et al 1995), few economic models have considered the incentives for individual herders to engage in mobility when one's own choice on mobility is affected by the choices of others who share access to the same pastures at home. Schoonmaker-Freudenberger and Schoonmaker-Freudenberger (1993) discuss patterns of mobility observed in the Ferlo region of Senegal.…”

“…In van den Brink et al (1995), the authors consider the effect of rainfall and variability in rainfall on producer decisions to either engage in mobile livestock production or become sedentary farmers. Their model considers returns to livestock vis-à-vis cropping quite generally; the emphasis is on rainfall variability and the comparative advantage that mobile herds may offer.…”

“…Among the many risk-management strategies that have been identified, livestock mobility is often seen as one of the most valuable, as it enables herders to improve mean output as well as decrease output fluctuations associated with both spatial and temporal variability in rainfall (e.g. Sandford 1982;Fleuret 1986;Painter et al 1994;Swallow 1994;van den Brink et al 1995). Mobility is facilitated by the common-pool nature of most grazing resources, which significantly reduces the transaction costs associated with mobility (NiamirFuller 1999).…”

“…2 Nonetheless, pressures to privatize common and openaccess grazing lands are likely to increase with increases in population densities, and perhaps in response to market integration and government policies, such as those that promote sedentary crop agriculture. The pressure to restrict access and/or privatize land, in part, will be a function of how productive and profitable pastures are vis-à-vis alternative uses, as well as of other external pressures, local customs and norms, and/or government policies and changes in legislation (van den Brink et al 1995;McCarthy et al 1998). Where communities can manage their rangeland resources, 3 different forms of common property may well be the most efficient (and, perhaps, equitable) property-rights structure, and we should observe less pressure to privatize, all else being equal.…”