“
Murder and cattle rustling began to be conducted, mostly by the youth, as a show of strength in these societies.
PEACE BUILDING IN SOUTH OMO
aimed at eliminating the mode of livelihood of the pastoral people. This grave marginalisation of pastoral economies has led to extreme levels of underdevelopment in these areas. As well as exacerbating competition for already scarce resources, the pastoralists have also responded to this treatment by adopting warrior-like cultures.
Murder and cattle rustling began to be conducted, mostly by the youth, as a show of strength in these societies. Overtime, these notions engrained themselves in the socio-cultural life, to the extent of delineating levels of prestige and positions within the hierarchy of the respective communities. It should also be noted that, conversely, the current government’s policies have in some ways created a better situation for pastoralists compared to the previous state of affairs. The introduction of federalism to address ethnic issues, the granting of constitutional rights to pastoralists, and the decentralisation of power to grassroots level have made positive contributions to peace building efforts in the area.
The causes Competition over pasture and water One of the classic causes of conflicts is competition for access to grazing pastures and water points. This happens because of the degradation of the land due to encroachment and low, erratic rainfall. This situation led to the cattle population becoming too large to be supported by the land, which resulted in competition over the meagre resources, especially during droughts. The situation is particularly problematic when there is an imbalance of resources. If we consider the Hamer, for instance, there is no long stretch of river in their traditional territory. Also, their population is large in comparison with the neighbouring communities. So, the Hamer look for pasture and water, and in so doing encroach on the land of other groups.
21