Abstract

In the last few years, several African countries have witnessed an increase in conflict between pastoralists and sedentary farmers and among pastoralist groups. While issues such as climate change, desertification, regional conflicts, population expansion, trafficking and terrorism have been highlighted as the reasons for the surge in violence, none of these issues fully explain the increased use of small and light weapons by several pastoralist groups and sedentary farmers. This article explores the changes in the dynamics of cattle ownership, termed neo-pastoralism, as a possible explanation for the increase in armed clashes between the groups. The article explains how traditional pastoralism is gradually giving way to neo-pastoralism, a form of pastoralism which involves larger herds and increased use of arms and ammunitions. Nigeria is used as a case study to explore these new patterns of conflict due to having the largest number of cattle in the sub-Saharan Africa region and the scale of the conflict in the country. This article is based on field research and interviews carried out in Nigeria between 2013 and 2019.

摘要

在过去几年中，几个非洲国家目睹了牧民和久坐的农民之间以及牧民团体之间的冲突增加。虽然诸如气候变化，荒漠化，区域冲突，人口膨胀，贩运和恐怖主义等问题已被强调为暴力激增的原因，但这些问题都没有充分说明若干牧民团体和久坐的人越来越多地使用轻型武器农民。本文探讨了被称为新农牧主义的牲畜所有权动态的变化，以此来解释这两个群体之间武装冲突的增加。这篇文章解释了传统的牧场主义如何逐渐让位给新的牧场主义，新的牧场主义是一种牧场主义，涉及更多的牛群以及更多的武器和弹药的使用。由于在撒哈拉以南非洲地区牲畜数量最多，而且该国的冲突规模很大，因此尼日利亚被用作案例研究来探索这些新的冲突模式。本文基于2013年至2019年在尼日利亚进行的现场研究和访谈。