![]() ![]() When land lacks adequate legal, institutional, and traditional/customary protection it becomes a commodity easily subject to manipulation and abuse. ![]() Some conflicts grow directly out of competition for land, but land is often not the sole cause of conflict other factors, such as ethnic or religious tensions or political marginalization contribute to conflict (Baranyi and Weitzner, 2001). When that competition involves groups of people, rather than individuals, the risk of larger-scale violence increases. Competition can occur between any number and type of identity groups, whether based on ethnicity, religion, class, gender, or generation. Competition over land and its resources is at the center of the nexus between land and conflict. ![]() Land is the object of competition in a number of potentially overlapping ways: as an economic asset, as a connection with identity and social legitimacy, and as political territory. Failure to address these bedrock issues may increase the likelihood of conflict and perpetuate poverty. Understanding the role land plays in the conflicts of so many nations can help policymakers develop strategies to ease tensions among groups, limit conflict, and potentially avoid violence and the poverty trap that comes from cyclical violence (Collier et al., 2003). Disputes over access to land and valuable mineral resources drove wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the nearly 25-year war in Sri Lanka was fought over geographic claims to an ethnic homeland for the country’s minority population. Ongoing communal violence in Nigeria and Sudan is tied to competition over scarce fertile land and poor resource governance. Land-related issues figure into many violent disputes around the world. ![]() Land so pervasively underpins human activity that it usually plays some role during war and civil violence. ![]()
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