Conflicts over scarce resources continue to be a significant area of concern for research and development. To successfully investigate the problem of resource-based conflicts in pastoral areas, the following strategic objectives were formulated: identify the causes of resource-based conflicts; determine the impact of resource-based conflict causes on livestock market performance; and identify strategies for managing the resource-based conflicts and their effects. Four livestock markets, namely Nakiloro in Moroto district and Kalapata in Kaabong district in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda; Lokiriama in Loima district and Oropoi in Turkana West district of Turkana County, Kenya, were sampled for the study due to the cross-border nature of the research. The study population consisted of livestock traders. The study sample was randomly selected from a sampling frame of 400 traders (50% from Uganda) using a statistical method taking into account a 95% confidence interval and a 5% confidence level (margin of error), resulting in a total of 360 traders as the study sample. Study results showed that 55% of livestock traders in both Kenya and Uganda are between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. The livestock trade is dominated by men, and illiteracy is high, although the trend is positive compared to 15 years ago, when the average literacy rate of pastoral communities in Turkana and Karamoja was 5%. The study also found that 71% and 70% of study participants in Kenya and Uganda, respectively, felt social, political, economic, and environmental resource-based conflict triggers as severe. In addition, 72% of Kenyans and 73% of Ugandans believed that resource-based conflicts inhibit livestock production and market performance in pastoral areas, with an average of 71% of study participants in both countries endorsing peaceful coexistence, access to livestock production resources, installation of security machinery and protocol in conflict-prone areas, and restoration of the functionality of livestock markets as strategies for managing resource-based conflicts and their effects on the pastoral economy. So, the study comes to the conclusion that resource-based conflicts slow down the development of pastoral areas. To help pastoral areas achieve the desired socioeconomic empowerment, recommendations for application and further research are needed.
Ekiru Francis Anno, Michael Etabo Ameripus. Effects of Internal and Cross-Border Resource-Based Conflicts on Livestock Market Performance in Pastoral Areas of Karamoja, Uganda and Turkana, Kenya, American Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics. Volume 7, Issue 3, September 2022, pp. 87-96. doi: 10.11648/j.ajere.20220703.14