The Theoretical Milieu: Fulani herder-indigene conflicts in Tallensi-Nabdam, Ghana

Abstract

Fulani herders have settled in Tallensi-Nabdam (Ghana) since the early 1980s, and new herders continue to arrive in spite of community resistance to the influx. Basset and Turner (2007) have argued that herders'journeys to humid West Africa have become "migration movements" in the sense that herders relocate to new areas in lieu of oscillating travel. Drawing on
herders' and indigenes' notions of space and place, I extend this knowledge by suggesting that much as the migrations are responses to deteriorating environmental conditions in the Sahel, a nomadic spatial.frame of reference enables herders to access and settle in others' territory despite almost continual resistance to them. The herders' influx and the indigene's responses have also generated a social (resource) dilemma which makes most stakeholders collectively worse off in time. To protect livelihoods, strategies that encourage indigene-herder cooperation are suggested. 

Key words: Space, Place, Political Ecology, Territoriality, Social Dilemma Theory, Livelihoods