Unpacking the dynamics of natural resource conflicts: The case of African rosewood

Abstract

Fueled by surging demand in Asia, the exploitation of African rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) has become a lucrative venture in sub-Saharan Africa that has sparked widespread resource conflicts over the last decade. While some of these conflicts have produced fatal outcomes, little is known about the nature of these conflicts and the underlying drivers. Drawing on empirical evidence from four communities in northern Ghana where African rosewood extraction is rife, this paper unpacks the drivers and dynamics of African rosewood conflicts. We find that violent conflicts over African rosewood exploitation are driven by negative othering, engrained power differences, and resource appropriation by external actors. These drivers are connected in complex ways to the flow of transnational capital and commodity chains beyond local politics. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource conflicts, especially the ongoing debate on why resource conflicts turn violent. Given the potential for resource conflicts to contribute to unsustainable resource exploitation, environmental policy must pay attention to these multi-scalar dynamics and drivers.