A Concomitant of Conflict and Consensus: Case of a Chieftaincy Succession in Ghana

Ghana is often seen as peaceful, but is faced with many chieftaincy conflicts that result mainly from succession to the throne (skin or stool) for traditional political power. Ghana has more than 230 chieftaincy disputes dotted across many parts of the country. However, the Bulsa Traditional Area (Buluk) of Ghana has had a stable and resilient chieftaincy succession despite conflicts arising out of the selection of chiefs. In the selection of chiefs, the adoption of a voting system is said to lead to consensus based decision-making which is largely responsible for the non-violent nature of the Buluk chieftaincy succession as compared to other areas in Ghana. Using a qualitative methodology, this case study examined in detail the chieftaincy succession system in the Bulsa Traditional area of Ghana, both conflict and consensus, and how this has helped over the years to maintain peace and avoid violence. The paper also examines whether this case could be a model for chieftaincy succession in Ghana

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Peacebuilding in the Bawku Traditional Area of Ghana: Failure or Success?

The role of CSOs in peace building is very unique since they are often seen by factions in conflicts as neutral and trustworthy. This paper is an empirical study which examines the roles of CSOs in the peace building process in the ethnic conflict in the Bawku Traditional Area of Ghana using views of 220 respondents. As part of this, the paper makes an assessment of CSOs’ role in peace building in the Bawku Traditional area. The findings in the  paper reveals that despite the important role of CSOs in mediation and curbing the spate of violence in the area, they are seen by some factions in the conflict as bias and their approaches to peace are not effective. Key words: CSOs, NGOs, Bawku, Ghana, conflict, peace building, violence, role and assessmen

Civil society organisations, conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Northern Ghana

The complexity of contemporary violent conflicts requires a shift from the traditional notion that preventing conflicts and building peace reside within governments to include the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). Using a qualitative research design with 20 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives of CSOs in northern Ghana, the study reveals three broad categories of CSOs namely Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs), Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs) performing conflict prevention and peacebuilding roles. These CSOs respond constructively to conflict using dialogue and mediation in different ways by using multiple instruments such as early warning systems and peace education for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The study shows that, unlike the state, CSOs worked towards conflict prevention and peacebuilding through local initiatives and partnership with communities. The dominant philosophy guiding CSOs’ work is the integrationist paradigm. One serious limitation identified in the conflict prevention and peacebuilding work of CSOs in northern Ghana is the lack of a common peacebuilding framework that can guide them to reduce the duplication of functions within the same space. The paper recommends that CSOs should forge a working partnership to roll out a comprehensive conflict prevention and peacebuilding activity to build sustainable peace for the development of the regions of northern Ghana

The Arts in Environmental Dialogue and Communication in West and East Africa

Les premières publications sur la délibération environnementale partaient du principe que les pairs débattaient rationnellement des preuves pour parvenir à des conclusions logiques. Cependant, des travaux plus récents présentent les activités artistiques comme un moyen de reconnaître les dimensions émotionnelles comme essentielles aux processus délibératifs. Simultanément, la littérature sur l'art participatif, l'art communautaire, l'activisme culturel et l'éducation artistique, regroupés sous le terme « arts pour le changement », montre comment les activités artistiques peuvent transmettre des messages au public et provoquer des changements. Notre étude a exploré le rôle des arts dans les délibérations à travers une série d'ateliers au Sénégal, au Mali, en Mauritanie, au Ghana et au Kenya. Des acteurs politiques, des activistes communautaires, des chercheurs et des artistes ont collaboré à la création d'oeuvres d'art. Les discussions des participants précédant l'utilisation d'activités artistiques ont montré que les discussions politiques sont déjà fortement influencées par les émotions, les croyances et les systèmes de valeurs, bien qu'elles ne soient souvent pas reconnues comme contribuant de manière significative à l'élaboration des politiques. La principale contribution de la création artistique collaborative a été de créer une atmosphère amicale qui a facilité les relations de travail. C'était particulièrement le cas lorsque les participants se réunissaient autour des fonctions de communication des oeuvres d'art produites, comme l'expriment les « arts pour le changement », plus courants dans les contextes d'Afrique de l'Est et de l'Ouest que les délibérations dirigées par les arts. L'accent mis sur la communication a mis en évidence l'importance d'animateurs artistiques compétents sur le plan esthétique. La facilitation doit également respecter les hiérarchies existantes tout en permettant à tous les participants de contribuer. Des recherches plus approfondies sur le rôle de la création artistique collaborative peuvent être menées dans le cadre d'une recherche-action.This paper contains an English Executive Summary on page 8. Early publications on environmental deliberation assumed that peers rationally debate evidence to reach logical conclusions. However, more recent works suggest that artistic activities are a way to recognise emotional dimensions as essential to deliberative processes. At the same time, literature on participatory art, community art, cultural activism and arts education, collectively referred to as ‘arts for change’, shows how artistic activities can convey messages to the public, and thereby provoke changes. Our study explored the role of the arts in deliberation through a series of workshops in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Ghana, and Kenya.Arts & Humanities Research Counci

The peace process in the Bawku conflict in Ghana: Challenges and prospects

Many conflict resolution measures have been used and continue to be used in order to bring peace to Bawku, but the area does not yet experience lasting peace. This paper examines the challenges and prospects of the peace process in the ethnic conflict in the Bawku Traditional Area, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. As part of this, the study also examines the mechanisms used to resolve the conflict by both government and CSOs/NGOs and how the conflict can be resolved to enhance peace in the area. The study reveals that the Bawku conflict needs to apply a more participatory approach to resolving the conflict than the current ad hoc approaches do

Milk Markets in Agropastoralist Areas of Africa – A Photoset

The photos displayed in this document were taken in Kenya and Ghana as part of the research project Connecting Agropastoral Food Culture Research to Livestock Commercialisation Policy. They accompany the project Policy Briefing (https://doi.org/10.19088/IDS.2023.018). The project explored the interactions between the cultural roles of milk and honey, and their existing and potential roles in markets. It instigated dialogue between research and policy domains: research on the cultural and heritage roles of these foodstuffs, and policy intentions for dairy and apiculture value chains. In Kenya, a participatory photography exercise engaged members of the Arror and Ilchamus communities, who presented photographs to county government policy actors in a policy dialogue Baraza event. In Ghana, the photographs were taken by the lead researcher during an ethnographic enquiry and presented to national-level policy actors.Arts and Humanities Research Counci