From the border to the bedroom: changing conflict dynamics in Karamoja, Uganda

Abstract

For the latter decades of the last century, the Karamoja region of north-eastern Uganda was infamous as a place of violent cattle raids and road ambushes, populated by fierce warriors. Using primary data, this article examines the shifts from large-scale raiding to opportunistic theft as well as the profound transformation in the security environment over the past 10 years. We argue that the combination of a top-down sustained disarmament campaign and grassroots peace resolutions have created relative stability for the first time in decades. This stability has allowed for the expansion of markets, investments by national and international actors, and the rejuvenation of livelihoods for many residents. However, while large-scale violent cattle raids are largely a thing of the past, violence and insecurity have shifted to the domestic sphere in the form of small-scale but pervasive thefts and rampant domestic violence.

Oil extraction and the changing dynamics of pastoral conflicts: a conjoint experiment in Turkana, Kenya

“…Owning guns and weapons gives raiders a clear advantage in accumulating more wealth and thus contributes to intensified pastoral conflicts in the region through small arms and weapons proliferation (Bollig 1990; Mkutu 2007; Eaton 2010). Several studies document how the commercialisation of livestock raiding (Mkutu 2007; Eaton 2010; Stites & Howe 2019) intensified pastoral conflicts by promoting individuals’ motivation to accumulate wealth. In addition, Okumu et al (2017) find that elites interested in economic gains mobilised commercialised raiding, making the existing ethnic cleavages salient.…”

Introducing pathways to resilience in the Karamoja Cluster

“…gender and diversification. The gender dimension took account of research on human nutrition and ecology in Turkana from the early 1980s (e.g., Galvin 1985 ) and Karamoja from around 2008 (Gray et al 2008 ), as well as more recent research in Karamoja on the severe nutritional and livelihoods’ stresses on women related to loss of livestock, violent livestock raiding and the persistence of domestic gender-based violence (Stites and Mitchard 2011 ; Stites and Howe 2019 ). On diversification, we recognized the considerable body of existing research on this topic and the notion of diversification in pastoralist contexts often being either positive or negative.…”

“…The third keynote presentation focused on gender and livelihoods in Karamoja and how changes in livestock ownership led to corresponding changes in the roles of women and in particular, an increasing domestic burden in terms of household incomes and diets (Stites 2019 ). The gendered effects of sedenterization, livestock commercialization and migration were also discussed.…”

Newly evolving pastoral and post-pastoral rangelands of Eastern Africa

“…Sedentarisation has presented new economic opportunities, especially for women through the sale of agricultural produce, milk and labour. In Karamoja towns, women pursue a range of market strategies including selling livestock for cash, micro-enterprises (selling food items—purchase maize, beans and cowpeas and then resell mixtures for 100Ush, 4 US cents in 2010 conversion per spoonful) and selling local beer (Stites and Huisman 2010 : 8; Caravani 2019 ). The income women earn from brewing now dwarfs that which they receive from engaging in casual labour or selling firewood.…”

“…The expansion of petty trade and associated growth of small trading centres has provided new work opportunities for young men in butchering, unloading buses/lorries, brick making and construction and for women in domestic work (Caravani 2019 ; Stites et al 2014 ). While brewing is a lucrative activity for women, their other work is generally less remunerative than men’s work (Stites and Huisman 2010 ). Livelihood diversification is not only about leaving pastoralism, but rather many use it as a way to remain in or move back into livestock keeping, as evidenced by migrants in towns who sustain links to family members and friends in rural areas (Stites et al 2014 ).…”