Conflicts over the use of natural resources are common in many developing countries. Finding ways to resolve or settle these conflicts is often difficult. New research from Uganda suggests that social capital can be effective, when used alongside local resource management policies.

Social capital can be explained as the ‘glue’ that holds societies together and enables groups to co-operate with each other. It involves social networks within and between communities, cultural norms (shared standards of behaviour), trust, and community participation in decision-making.

Research from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the African Highlands Initiative (AHI) and the Natural Resources Institute, UK, looks at conflicts over natural resources in Kabale district, southwest Uganda. The increasing population in the area has resulted in land being split up into small farms, with fierce competition for these. Some land is now protected, with strict policies controlling the use of other land.

The authors interviewed 203 farmers in 16 villages. Almost all the farmers had been involved in at least one conflict over natural resources. Some conflict was within communities, mostly over hillside management and boundary disputes, but also related to property rights. Conflicts between communities were usually over common-pool resources – resources which people share, such as grazing land, forests and wetlands. Other conflicts involved communities’ concern for better livelihoods, which conflicted with national or international efforts to protect the environment.

Traditionally, local clans and elders have managed conflicts. However, over the last decade, the government has established local councils to judge disputes. The research shows:

• Local village councils were seen as most effective in resolving conflicts, using mediation and arbitration (in 40 percent of cases). Many natural resources management byelaws were also seen as effective.
• Clan elders and community members handled 34 percent of disputes. In many cases, however, they were not seen as effective due to their lack of power to punish offenders.
• Farmers’ and women’s groups were seen as more capable of resolving conflicts, due to high levels of trust and co-operation, strict cultural norms, and an ability to work with other groups and the local council system.
• Conflicts between local people and external organisations, such as park authorities, resulted in fines and imprisonment as well as exclusion and physical violence.

Social capital can play a role in reducing and resolving conflicts over natural resources between or within communities. However, it is not effective at managing conflicts where there are unequal power relations, such as between local communities and wealthy or powerful institutions. On their own, neither social capital nor local policy is enough to ensure that conflicts are resolved in the long term. Instead, policymakers should acknowledge that:

• people often use a combination of strategies to manage conflict, drawing on both social capital and local policies
• the key to minimising conflicts is co-operation between local policies and social capital, where mutually supportive relationships connect people, communities and public institutions and encourage negotiation and collective action.

Source(s):
‘The Dynamics of Social Capital and Conflict Management in Multiple Resource Regimes: A Case of the Southwestern Highlands of Uganda’, Ecology and Society, 12, 1, by Pascal C. Sanginga, Rick N. Kamugisha and Adrienne M. Martin, 2007 Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development Natural Resources Systems Programme (R7856); International Development Research Centre

id21 Research Highlight: 12 October 2007

Further Information:
Pascal C. Sanginga
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture – CIAT-Africa Kawanda
Agricultural Research Institute P.O. Box 6247, Kampala
Uganda

Tel: +256 414 567670
Fax: +256 414 467635
Contact the contributor: p.sanginga@cgiar.org

International Centre for Tropical Agriculture

African Highlands Initiative

Natural Resources Institute, UK

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'Involving local people in the conservation of Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda'

'Conflict management and environmental change in Papua New Guinea'

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