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 Aji-ica 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' territ01y 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.