Conflicts Governance in Africa: Perspectives from the North-Western Highland Rangelands of Cameroon

Natural resource utilisation has often resulted in conflicts of varying dimensions around the world. However, unlike other non-renewable natural resources such as gems that generate violent armed conflicts, conflicts arising from the use of natural resources such as rangelands continue to be neglected, yet they are the foundation for many large-scale conflicts in developing countries. Using a cross-sectional research design, this paper examines the governance of rangeland conflicts in the North-Western Highlands of Cameroon. Several drivers, namely, toxic relationships between resource users who are dissected on ethnic and religious lines, environmental changes and demographic pressure are responsible for the persistence of rangeland conflicts in the region. Various state (administrative and judicial) and non-state (involving amicable settlement, dialogue platform and alternative resolution mechanisms) approaches have been employed in conflict management and governance. Though limited in terms of legal space of operations, non-state approaches to rangeland conflicts are more effective than the state ones. The current centralised system of operation has contributed minimally to mitigating and managing these conflicts. Committed to embracing decentralisation in the hope of resolving the growing political differences and agitations rocking country, there are also expectations that this will create more space for non-state actors and approaches to significantly contribute to conflict governance in the region.