Local conditions of drought-related violence in sub-Saharan Africa

The role of road and water infrastructures

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4822012
AutoresAdrien Detges (Freie Universität Berlin, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume53
Fascículo5
Páginas696-710
Data de publicação2016-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022343316651922
OpenAlexW2502587379
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas30
Referências citadas53

Despite growing concerns about the possible security implications of extreme precipitation shortfalls in vulnerable and politically fragile regions, the particular conditions that make armed violence more or less likely in times of drought remain poorly understood. Using a spatially disaggregated research design and focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, the present analysis assesses how far violent and nonviolent outcomes in the wake of drought can be accounted for by regional differences in the provision of key infrastructures that help coping with drought and preventing violence. The results indicate that civil conflict events in connection with drought are more likely in administrative areas with poorly developed road infrastructures. Drought-related communal violence, on the other hand, is more likely in regions where an important part of the population lacks access to an improved water source. Thus, while the provision of key infrastructures seems to moderate local conflict risks in connection with drought, there are nevertheless important distinctions with regard to different types of infrastructures and forms of armed violence. However, the importance of precipitation shortfalls as a conflict-facilitating factor in sub-Saharan Africa should not be overstated, as the overall contribution of drought measures to predicting violent events is modest in all calculated models

Civil Conflict · Coping (psychology) · Development economics · Economics · Environmental health · Environmental planning · Geography · Poison control · Political science · Population · Spanish Civil War · Agricultural risk and resilience · Health and Conflict Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Transboundary Water Resource Management