DEVELOPMENT-RELATED CONFLICTS: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

This paper is aimed at proposing a policy framework for the resolution or management of development-related conflicts in Sub-Saharan African countries. In many conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, development issues are contributory factors. In view of the linkage between conflicts and development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, the paper asks whether there is any one resource, whether security apparatus or development policy, that is at once necessary and sufficient for the resolution or management of development-related conflicts. In responding to the above question the paper argues for the combination of both security and development resources in dealing with such conflicts. For the purpose of contextualization: the conflicts the paper focuses on are intra-state conflicts; and the development issues the paper focuses on are unemployment and underemployment.  Throughout the discussion, the paper relies on theoretical analysis. Admittedly, any sort of work like the subject matter of this paper often requires empirical methods. Nevertheless, the aim of this paper is to do a theoretical analysis which will serve as the foundation for future empirical works.  The paper is in three sections. The first section presents a parsimonious and cursory overview of intra-state conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. The second section discusses the linkage between such conflicts and certain development issues namely unemployment and underemployment. While the final section proposes a policy and proffers a strategy for dealing with conflicts in which unemployment and underemployment are contributory factors.