A Peace-Positive Approach to Natural Resource Management in the Liptako Gourma
Publisher: European Institute of Peace
Date: 2024
Topics: Economic Recovery, Extractive Resources, Governance
Countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger
Disputes over the ownership of, access to, and benefits from natural resources such as land for farming or itinerant livestock herding, water points, mineral resources, and forests - including protected areas - drive and prolong violent conflict in the Liptako Gourma border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. These countries have been battling increasingly widespread jihadist insurgencies since 2015 and have also experienced severe political instability, with five coup d’états across the three countries since 2020. Just as the mismanagement of natural resources can drive conflict, better management of natural resources can support peace. These root causes are also exacerbated by the dynamics of climate change and environmental degradation. This paper outlines the rationale, principles, and entry-points for peace-positive natural resource management in the Liptako Gourma region. ‘Peace-positive’ approaches can foster non-violent ways to resolve disputes over who has control over, access to and benefits from resources, reassert the role of the state and/or traditional authorities in resolving resource disputes, support ‘infrastructures for peace’ (i.e. the social norms and institutions that help to prevent and resolve violence), and address core factors behind livelihood insecurity in the Liptako Gourma region.