ABSTRACT
Eastern and central Africa are plagued by a wide range of inter-and intrastate conflicts. These conflicts are manifested in various ways including deadly violence (loss of human life and displacement of households from their socioecological backgrounds) often as a result of military force. The causes of the conflicts are multifaceted. They range from religious differences to stiff competition for access to and control of natural resources such as land, water, forests and fisheries. However, attempts to address many of the conflicts in the region have put excessive emphasis on their political dimensions. Indeed, most of the efforts to resolve conflicts in the region have focused on the political underpinnings without regard to root socio-economic and ecological causes. As a result, they have not been effective in resolving the conflicts.
