Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Cross-border conflict in Africa is increasing and requires urgent management. Migrant herder movement influenced by climate change among Ghana’s northern neighboring states characterized by transhumance and nomadic activities destroys farms, biodiversity, and livelihoods causing conflict. Since 2000, over 30 cross-border conflicts amidst injury and death have been reported. The paper highlights the complexities of the conflicts, and management challenges and proposes a policy intervention. Using a qualitative and descriptive approach, the study engaged farmers, herder migrants, and stakeholders with semi-structured and in-depth interviews. Self-interest and cooperative strategies were explored by using game theory and Prisoner’s Dilemma to conceptualize the conflict to move both parties away from a zero-sum game to a win-win situation. The findings unveil that stakeholders are actively managing the conflict, and both sides recognize the risks and embrace the conflict as a shared problem, yet, it is by no means solved. Crop grazing and water bodies destruction continue to raise tension renewing the conflict annually. State-state herder migration management is a possible antidote.