APD

Natural resource-based conflicts exist in almost every part of Somaliland, albeit at different scale and magnitude. Years of war with often several stages of population movement have blurred de jure and de facto property and access rights to land. In the almost complete absence of documentation (e.g. cadastral data) and regulatory authority, conflicts arise over sales, land encroachment and grabbing, etc. Disagreements over communal land use and access rights to common and public land also lead to occasional violence, e.g. between farmers and agro-pastoralists. Nationalization and later re-privatisation of communal land (e.g. in Awdal), as well as range enclosures (in Togdheer) are among the key challenges in pastoral areas. Inter-communal tensions and minor clashes persist in former frontline areas (such as Gabiley/Awdal and in Eastern Sanaag). Where conflicts surface near administrative boundaries, they carry the additional risk of broader politicisation (e.g. in disputes over electoral boundaries). Click here for further information on the relating » Project on Land-based Conflicts.

Materials on Land-based Conflicts