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1. Nomad-settler conflict in Afghanistan today

Author:
Antonio Giustozzi
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
Conflict between nomads and settlers appeared repeatedly in the media in Afghanistan and elsewhere after 2001, but it has rarely been studied systematically. In order to fill this gap, AREU launched a three-pronged research project on Natural Resources Management (NRM) in December 2016 supported by the EU. The purpose of this paper is primarily to inform and update policymaking on matters related to nomad-settler conflict in Afghanistan, as well as to lay the foundations for future research efforts. It provides a first, and necessarily mapped, assessment of the conflict and of resolution efforts as they stood in 2017—2019. The study looks at the several drivers of nomad-settler conflict, including the opacity around the Pastures Law, the government weakness, or demographic pressure over a scarcer irrigated land. It then looks at past conflict resolution efforts and their limited impact, before formulating recommendations around hybrid solutions where the state would play only a limited role. It also discusses possible options for future, improved resolution efforts.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Governance, Conflict, Public Policy, Land, and Nomad
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

2. Nomad Sedentarisation Processes in Afghanistan and Their Impact on Conflict

Author:
Antonio Giustozzi
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
The sedentarisation of nomads is often seen by policy makers as the way to more fully integrate nomads into Afghan society, make services available to them and eliminate nomad-settler conflict. In fact, many nomads have already settled, sometimes as a result of government-sponsored schemes, but much more often as a result of spontaneous processes. This “watching brief” focuses on the issue of if and how nomad sedentarisation impacts nomad-settler conflict, in order to establish whether sedentarisation could be a viable policy for reducing nomad-settler conflict. It does so by looking at four case studies of nomad settlements: two state sponsored cases and two spontaneous cases. The paper first discusses pre-2001 experiences in sedentarisation, then outlines post-2001 sedentarisation processes before reviewing the four case studies of nomad settlements, which were all affected by conflicts with neighbouring communities. In total, for this “watching brief” we interviewed 16 settled nomads (four per settlement, all community elders and all males) during spring 2019. We deliberately focused exclusively on nomads (ignoring neighbouring settled communities) because we wanted to get a perspective from within the community about the dynamics of sedentarisation. We started from the assumption that settler communities in surrounding areas would have had rather negative views about the nomad settlements.
Topic:
Conflict, Local, Community, and Nomad
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

3. Mapping nomad-farmer conflict in Afghanistan

Author:
Antonio Giustozzi
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
In December 2016, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) launched a European Union-funded project, ‘A three-pronged research effort into essential areas of Natural Resource Management (NRM), Food Zone policy, ground water, and the shifting interests of stakeholders in the conflict opposing sedentary and nomad populations,’ that includes a component about nomad-farmer conflict. The project will unfold over a period of three years and is organised in stages. Project fieldwork involves a total of 16 case studies spread around Afghanistan, of which seven saw a first wave of fieldwork carried out during the first stage. It also includes interviews with government officials, community leaders and other conflict observers, both in Kabul and in the provinces. This brief summarises the preliminary findings of stage one, drawn from the seven case studies. Follow-up work will include not only nine more cases studies and the bulk of interviews with conflict observers, but also additional interviews in the seven case studies that feed into this preliminary briefing.
Topic:
Agriculture, Conflict, Rural, Farming, and Nomad
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East