This edited volume frames herder–farmer conflict as a historical and politically produced problem rather than a recent crisis. By tracing how farmer–herder relations have evolved over time, the book shows how past interactions shape present conflicts and offers lessons for pursuing more sustainable peace and development in Africa (5).
The book is the first holistic, interdisciplinary study of herder–farmer conflicts in Africa, drawing on fields such as African studies, humanities, environmental science, peace and conflict studies, development studies, and the social sciences (9). It combines comparative case studies from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sudan, and Togo with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and direct observation (17–18). A clear example of how the book grounds its analysis in evidence can be found in Chapter Three, which focuses on Burkina Faso, where Tog-Noma Patricia Emma Bontogho uses satellite imagery and land-use/land-cover change data (1990–2015) to show how environmental degradation and changing land regimes intensify competition between farmers and herders (55–68). This approach makes clear that environmental change isn’t just an abstract concept; it can be measured across space and time. Similarly, the work emphasizes the scale of the violence and its costs, both human and economic. Using Armed conflict location and event data project (ACLED) data, the book documents thousands of incidents and fatalities across West, Central, and East Africa, with Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cameroon particularly affected (11–12). It also cites Mercy Corps estimates showing that farmer–herder conflicts cost Nigeria more than $14 billion between 2013 and 2015, highlighting just how high the developmental stakes are (11).
The book was placed within a broader literature that has mainly focused on the causes and drivers of herder–farmer conflicts. It observes that much of this research is overly preoccupied with explaining causes, with limited attention to conflict management and peacebuilding outcomes (9). By reviewing more than fifty empirical studies, the introduction highlights that peacebuilding, particularly the role of non-state actors’ approaches, has received relatively little attention (9–10).
A major contribution of the book is its emphasis that women and youth are not merely victims, as earlier studies often suggest. The work cites a literature review showing that women appear in only 28 percent of studies and are mostly depicted as victims, while youth are often framed primarily as perpetrators (13). It engages these debates on gender and agency by examining the roles of women and youth in herder–farmer conflicts. Most chapters show how women and youth act as mediators, active participants, and sometimes even perpetrators of violence (155–81; 181–206). While the work uses this analysis to effectively highlight gendered roles in conflict, it does not fully show how these roles influence peacebuilding outcomes over time.
A large portion of the book focuses on environmental change and competition over resources. Drawing on case studies from Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Nigeria (55–68; 95–181), they demonstrate how damaged land, changing weather patterns, and the loss of traditional grazing routes have heightened tensions between farmers and herders. These case studies avoid simple scarcity narratives. Instead, they show how environmental stress becomes politically dangerous when access to land and mobility is poorly regulated. The book further explores issues of governance, land tenure, and political economy. These contributions are among the strongest in the volume. They demonstrate that violence often arises not from inherent farmer–herder conflict, but from failures in land administration, politicized resource allocation, and weak state authority (73–155). These help in grounding conflict in everyday administrative practices, rather than ethnic or environmental divisions.
The volume examines the role of nonstate actors and informal security arrangements. In contexts where the state is absent or distrusted, vigilante groups and local militias emerge as key actors. It shows how these groups can temporarily reduce insecurity while also deepening cycles of violence and retaliation (80–84). These complicate simple narratives of state failure, though they sometimes stop short of evaluating the long-term consequences of nonstate security.
Overall, the volume is an interesting book. By bringing together environmental, political, and social perspectives across multiple African contexts, it moves the literature beyond narrow explanations of farmer–herder conflict. At the same time, the book would have benefited from stronger editorial synthesis, particularly in drawing clearer connections between case studies and the peacebuilding framework laid out in the introduction. Despite these limitations, Herder–Farmer Conflicts in Africa is a valuable contribution. It encourages readers to rethink familiar conflicts in historical and political terms and makes a strong case for taking peacebuilding seriously. The book will be useful for scholars and students of African history, political ecology, and conflict studies.
