ABSTRACT
Across Africa, and more so in recent years, there has been an exponential growth of extractive industry investment and agro-industrial projects implemented by large multinational and national companies. 1 The communities most affected by the growth in the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources – whether forests, land, or extractive minerals – are, however, often marginalized and vulnerable, as much of the natural resource wealth is located in rural areas (Karl 1997; Sachs and Warner 2001; Humphreys et al. 2007). These communities, often in places with no or little formal national state presence, have to deal with the political, economic, and social pressures that accompany the arrival of large-scale investment projects (ACBF 2013). Specifically, companies’ desire to expedite project development and win over communities often results in poorly thought-out social investment initiatives that tend to undermine state functions in health, education, and infrastructure, and create a culture of dependency on the company. When resources are depleted, or market conditions no longer justify their exploitation, it is the surrounding communities that suffer. These processes tend to polarize communities among those in favor of projects and those against, further undermining the social cohesion required in times of crisis, leaving entire populations vulnerable to illicit economic actors and armed groups (Godnick et al. 2008; ACBF 2013). As a result, the exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources and its role in national development has been subject to political, social, and environmental struggles, social strife, and armed conflicts. The terms “resource curse,” and/or “paradox of plenty,” are often used to describe particular manifestations of this negative relationship strife (Barma et al. 2012; Collier 2007; Humphreys et al. 2007).
