n Conflict Trends - The environment and conflict in Africa : toward an analytical framework

Abstract

In spite of efforts to develop African instruments to deal with conflicts on the continent, the evidence regarding the frequency of intrastate and interstate conflicts in Africa over recent decades does not show a sustained declining trend. While there appears to have been a decrease in conflict since 2003, the period over which it has been found to exist is too short to carry much statistical weight. Moreover, environmental and climate factors are increasingly implicated in the causal process of both intrastate and interstate conflicts on the continent.