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Background report
‘Drought as War’ in Northern Uganda: Exploring the Complex Relationship Between Climate Change, Scarcity, and Conflict
That climate change will increase the incidence of violent conflict is a common claim made by both policymakers and climate change activists. I aim to question and critique the simplistic assertion that climate change will cause increased violent conflict, showing…
Book chapter
From violent conflict to slow violence: climate change and post-conflict recovery in Karamoja, Uganda
In literature examining climate change as a potential factor in violent conflict, violence is generally conceived as a readily-apparent, time-bound event. Conversely, the ontologies of slow violence emphasize the insidious ways in which environmental change can, itself, impart violence. This…
Research paper
Charcoal power: The political violence of non-fossil fuel in Uganda
Charcoal is important in Africa due to its centrality to urbanization. Despite this, the politics of charcoal remain largely unexplored. This article asks how political power shapes charcoal production and how charcoal as an energy source shapes political power through…
Research paper
From disaster to devastation: drought as war in northern Uganda
This paper proposes a shift from the concept of disaster to one of devastation when dealing with the destructive consequences of climate change. It argues that today, a discourse of climate-change disaster has become dominant, in which present disasters are…
Article
Borders areas should be used, not feared, in pandemic responses
This report moves beyond abstract assumptions and global-level debates to understand the reality of the struggles and strategies of local and national organisations during complex emergencies. We focus on the histories, politicoeconomic dynamics and everyday realities of South Sudanese NGOs…
Research paper
The counterinsurgency/conservation nexus: guerrilla livelihoods and the dynamics of conflict and violence in the Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The growing militarisation of nature conservation has refocused attention on the relations between counterinsurgency and conservation. This contribution analyses how these two phenomena entwine in the Virunga National Park, located in the war-ridden east of the Democratic Republic of the…
Research paper
Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
This paper describes risk-pooling friendships and other social networks among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda. Social networks are of critical importance for risk management in an environment marked by volatility and uncertainty. Risk management or risk pooling mainly takes the form of…
Research paper
Public Authority and Conservation in Areas of Armed Conflict: Virunga National Park as a ‘State within a State’ in Eastern Congo
Much research on nature conservation in war-torn regions focuses on the destructive impact of violent conflict on protected areas, and argues that transnational actors should step up their support for those areas to mitigate the risks that conflict poses to…
Background report
South Sudan’s Devastating Floods: Why They Happen and Why They Need a Coherent National Policy
Drawing on flood incident data and climate change evidence, this paper argues that floods should now be viewed as a perpetual threat to lives, property and infrastructure in South Sudan. The author calls for immediate efforts to adapt and mitigate…
Background report
South Sudan’s Devastating Floods: Why There is a Need for Urgent Resilience Measures
Written in collaboration with Flood Management Initiative, this paper reviews the extent of the flooding in Bor Town in 2020. Using GPS depth measurements and discussions with local residents, the paper first charts the extent of flooding that year, before…
Research paper
Capitalizing Community: Waste, Wealth, and (Im)Material Labor in Kampal
Biomass briquettes have emerged as a development silver bullet, supposedly converting waste to wealth and tackling crises of unemployment, urban waste management, and rural deforestation. Briquettes have captured the imagination of international environmental NGOs operating in many African cities who…
Research paper
Urban Climate Change, Livelihood Vulnerability and Narratives of Generational Responsibility in Jinja, Uganda
There is an urgent need to understand lived experiences of climate change in African cities, where even small climate shocks can have significant implications for the livelihoods of the urban poor. This article examines narratives of climate and livelihood changes…
Research paper
The Influence of Governance Rearrangements on Flood Risk Management in Kampala, Uganda
The importance of governance rearrangements (reassignment of positions, roles, and responsibility among actors in governance processes) and their implications on flood risk management has gained currency. However, much work has concentrated on building and applying frameworks to evaluate impacts of…
Research paper
On Exposure, Vulnerability and Violence: Spatial Distribution of Risk Factors for Climate Change and Violent Conflict across Kenya and Uganda
Recent studies discuss linkages between climate change and violent conflict, especially for East Africa, and focusing on whether climate change increases risk of violent conflict. However, little is known about where a climate-conflict link is most likely to be found.…
Research paper
Vulnerability of Indigenous Health to Climate Change: A Case Study of Uganda’s Batwa Pygmies
The potential impacts of climate change on human health in sub-Saharan Africa are wide-ranging, complex, and largely adverse. The region’s Indigenous peoples are considered to be at heightened risk given their relatively poor health outcomes, marginal social status, and resource-based…
Research paper
Perceptions and Vulnerability to Climate Change among the Urban Poor in Kampala City, Uganda
Climate risks and vulnerability continue to disproportionately affect the urban poor given their constrained adaptive capacity. This paper examines the urban poor’s perceptions and vulnerability to climate change in Kampala through structured interviews and focus groups with randomly selected households…
Research paper
Maintenance Space: The Political Authority of Garbage in Kampala, Uganda
In the name of cleaning up Kampala’s political institutions and public space, the Kampala Cap ital City Authority (KCCA), was established in 2010. To legitimize its contested and explicitly antipolitical authority, it made garbage collection and beautification its top priority,…
Research paper
Beyond scarcity: Rethinking water, climate change and conflict in the Sudans
This article critiques the emphasis on ‘scarcity’, ‘state failure’ and ‘under-development’ within discussions of environmental security, proposing instead an alternative model of environment-conflict relations.
Research paper
Perceptions and Attitudes towards Climate Change in Fishing Communities of the Sudd Wetlands, South Sudan
This study investigated local ecological knowledge concerning climate change in the Sudd Wetlands of South Sudan. Using semi-structured questionnaires, the authors found that South Sudanese fisherfolk perceived that they had been negatively affected by climate change over the past decade.…
Research paper
Local Communities Vulnerability to Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies in Bukavu in DR Congo
Vulnerabilities analysis can help answer where and how society can best invest in vulnerability reduction. This study aimed at exploring vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climate change of local communities in Bukavu in DR Congo. Participatory action research was used…
Research paper
Population Displacement and Sustainable Development: The Significance of Environmental Sustainability in Refugee–Host Relationships in the Congo−Brazzaville Crises
The Republic of Congo experienced repeated outbreaks of armed conflicts between militiamen affiliated to three main political factions, which affected the socioeconomic fabrics of the Congolese society until late 2000. This paper examines the socioeconomic and environmental impact of interactions…
Briefing
Impact of Nyiragongo Volcanic Eruptions on the Resilience to the COVID-19 and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eruptions of the Nyiragongo volcano in May 2021 caused unfathomable damage, including loss of life and property, and displacement of thousands of people, affecting the city of Goma in particular. Furthermore, it charred health and school infrastructures and decimated crops…
Policy document
Land Tenure in South Sudan: Does it Promote Climate Change Resilience?
The authors analyse the South Sudanese Land Act 2009 with respect to its promotion of climate change resilience. Drawing on prior work and primary data, they argue that while the 2009 Land Act does contain clauses intended to promote climate…
Policy document
Climate Change and Conflicts in South Sudan
This study investigates the extent of climate change, variability and the incidents of climate disaster events and links with conflicts in South Sudan using meteorological data, records of conflicts, floods and droughts. The authors found that temperatures have increased and…
Policy document
Climate Change and Gender in South Sudan
This study analyses existing literature and empirical data (including rainfall, temperature, health and nutrition, and climate disaster data) to investigate the difference in gender impacts of climate-related hazards in South Sudan. The authors argue that in South Sudan, women are…
Policy document
Climate Services Model for South Sudan’s Rural Farmers and Agro-pastoralists
This paper analyses a pilot study which used regional climate services to provide farmers in South Sudan with user-friendly seasonal weather information to inform their day-to-day farming activities, based on a similar service in Uganda. Taking place in rural Tonj…
Policy document
Confronting a Life-threatening Pollution: A Guide for Credible Environmental and Social Audit of Petroleum Companies’ Operations in South Sudan
This policy brief discusses how the recently proposed environmental and social audit of the petroleum companies’ operations by the Ministry of Petroleum can be conducted to generate scientific evidence that can assist in finding a permanent solution to pollution in…
Research paper
The political economy of landslides and international aid relief: a qualitative investigation in rural Uganda
Linking environmental degradation in Bududa to political, economic, and social factors provides a broader context in which to view risk from landslides in this community, as a critical case in demonstrating how economic globalization benefits some at the expense of…
Research paper
Land is now the biggest gun: climate change and conflict in Karamoja, Uganda
Places that are both recovering from violent conflict and dependent on natural recourses face the overlapping challenges of reducing the risk of recurring conflict, promoting economic recovery, and ensuring sustainable environmental management: all challenges exacerbated by climate change. This article…
Evidence review
Changes in Climatic Factors and Malaria in Uganda
The study examines the relationship between climatic factors and reported malaria cases using data from 12 districts in Uganda over the period 2000-2011. A panel dataset comprising temperature, temperature standard deviation; minimum humidity; maximum humidity; precipitation; precipitation standard deviation; malaria…
