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The reality of the democratization of various African states in the 1990s has often failed to match the promise of democracy. Disputes over electoral outcomes have been commonplace, often resulting violence and social unrest. Such disputes point to possible limitations of the capacity of formal institutions such as the electoral commissions (and its associated electoral laws) and the judiciary to ensuring their peaceful resolution even where there may be no actual large-scale electoral violence. This paper examines the 2012 presidential election in Ghana. It argues that in addition to these institutional mechanisms there is an important role played by the traditional authorities exercise of informal conflict resolution strategies and the positive values in the (political) culture. Drawing on reports of journalists, the views of politicians and judicial records the paper shows how the preventive mediation of traditional authorities helped to defuse tensions and prevented a potentially violent situation during the electoral process and its disputed outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on the drivers of flooding in sub-Saharan Africa is mostly focused on large and megacities, despite the majority of cities in the region being medium- and small-sized. We conducted a systematic review using 27 peer-reviewed scientific papers selected following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols using the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA), Ghana, as a case study, and validated the results in a workshop attended by 51 stakeholders. We found that the reported drivers of flood risk in GKMA are land cover changes (61.5%) (e.g. wetlands degradation); governance challenges (16.2%); challenges with drainage (13%); extreme rainfall (6.5%); and apathy towards nature (3.2%). We conclude that floods in GKMA are overwhelmingly human induced through unsustainable urbanization processes that are so rapid that city authorities are unable to properly control them. Also, a holistic understanding of flood risk is missing since majority of the included papers rather used qualitative methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 52/2014 states that the criteria or evidence that must be met for recognition of indigenous peoples are: indigenous history, customary territories, customary law, customary objects, and customary institutions. Using a case study of the Boti Tribe, the oldest ethnic group on Timor Island, this study aims to collect evidence of the existence of indigenous peoples and their customary territories. This research will focus on verifying evidence of the existence of indigenous peoples using a socio-spatial approach. Our findings show that the Boti indigenous community still exists, with several main evidences of its existence, namely, they have a traditional history in which they were formed from several clans led by the Benu clan; there is a customary area with several use zones of land; there are customary laws that regulate daily life and local wisdom in managing natural resources; and there are traditional practices. Additional evidence was discovered that they manage customary forests sustainably, as evidenced by the consistent forest cover over the last 30 years. These findings can be used to develop academic papers and plans for regional regulations concerning the Boti Tribe's recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractSeveral interethnic violent conflicts have escalated in Ethiopia over the last few years. Particularly in the southern regional state of Ethiopia, the conflict between the Konso and Ale ethnic groups has its roots in intercommunal crises. This study examines the role of customary institutions (CIs) in the transformation of violent conflict between the Konso and Ale ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia. The study employed a case-study research design with a qualitative approach. The data are organised and analysed thematically. The 1991 federalism and the autonomy of ethnic groups led to conflicts between the two communities. The study reveals that prior to the 1991 Ethiopian regime, the Konso and Ale ethnic groups had robust CIs used to transform conflicts ranging from personal to criminal issues. However, currently, CIs have not been able to end the ongoing conflict due to sociopolitical factors like the complex nature of conflict, erosion of traditional values due to modernization, government interventions, youth and religious misunderstandings of CIs, and the limited authority of customary systems. The new state structure and formal institutions that have replaced traditional ones with politically motivated institutions have also reduced the significance of the system.

Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 52 of 2014 states that the criteria or evidence that must be met for recognition of indigenous peoples are: indigenous history, customary territories, customary law, customary objects, and customary institutions. Using a case study of the Boti Tribe, the oldest ethnic group on Timor Island, this study aims to collect evidence of the existence of indigenous peoples and their customary territories. This research will focus on verifying evidence of the existence of indigenous peoples using a socio-spatial approach. Our findings show that the Boti indigenous community still exists, with several main evidences of its existence, namely, they have a traditional history in which they were formed from several clans led by the Benu clan; there is a customary area with several use zones of land; there are customary laws that regulate daily life and local wisdom in managing natural resources; and there are traditional practices. Additional evidence was discovered that they manage customary forests sustainably, as evidenced by the consistent forest cover over the last 30 years. These findings can be used to develop academic papers and plans for regional regulations concerning the Boti Tribe's recognition.

Several interethnic violent conflicts have escalated in Ethiopia over the last few years. Particularly in the southern regional state of Ethiopia, the conflict between the Konso and Ale ethnic groups has its roots in intercommunal crises. This study examines the role of customary institutions (CIs) in the transformation of violent conflict between the Konso and Ale ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia. The study employed a case-study research design with a qualitative approach. The data are organised and analysed thematically. The 1991 federalism and the autonomy of ethnic groups led to conflicts between the two communities. The study reveals that prior to the 1991 Ethiopian regime, the Konso and Ale ethnic groups had robust CIs used to transform conflicts ranging from personal to criminal issues. However, currently, CIs have not been able to end the ongoing conflict due to sociopolitical factors like the complex nature of conflict, erosion of traditional values due to modernization, government interventions, youth and religious misunderstandings of CIs, and the limited authority of customary systems. The new state structure and formal institutions that have replaced traditional ones with politically motivated institutions have also reduced the significance of the system. IMPACT STATEMENT: In 1991, Ethiopia established an ethnic federal structure to prevent future violent interethnic conflicts however, this redefining of the country along ethnic lines has become the source of conflicts, causing great harm to the citizens in general and the Konso-Ale ethnic groups in particular. CIs have lost their previous authority and become weaker and unable to effectively transform such conflicts across the country, and this is true for the Konso and Ale cases. This article aims to examine the role of CIs in transforming the violent conflict between the Konso and Ale ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia. The low status of customary institutions is attributed to factors such as the establishment of a new state structure, erosion of traditional values, modern practices, youth and religious misunderstandings of CIs, and limited authority of CIs. The government and all stakeholders should work together to strengthen CIs and address ethnic conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of restorative justice in settling traffic accident crimes in Sorong City. It emphasizes the importance of direct involvement between perpetrators, victims, and communities in resolving criminal cases. Restorative justice aims to restore the well-being of victims, hold offenders accountable, and promote dialogue between parties involved. The article also discusses the potential use of customary law and conflict resolution mechanisms in Sorong City, highlighting the Moi Tribe's emphasis on community involvement and consensus-building. However, there are debates and concerns about the application of restorative justice in traffic accident cases, including the potential for arbitrary actions and the absence of legal certainty. Further research is needed to fully understand the potential of restorative justice in this context. [Extracted from the article]

This study focuses on the first problem of solving traffic accident criminal cases that have been applied in law enforcement and how to reconstruct the ideal traffic accident crime resolution based on a restorative justice approach. The method used in this study is normative juridical research with a research approach in the form of a normative approach. The result of this study is that direct involvement between perpetrators, victims, and communities in solving criminal cases is emphasized in the restorative justice approach. Criminal acts involving traffic accidents can be resolved in accordance with the principles of restorative justice. Because it serves the interests of victims and perpetrators based on two perspectives (victims and perpetrators) in terms of accident crimes, the use of restorative justice is essential. The application of restorative justice in solving criminal cases that prioritizes the interests of victims and perpetrators in finding solutions to crimes and their consequences has been outlined in a circular issued by the Indonesian National Police. The traditional dynamic between local communities and their governments in fighting crime can be changed by the use of restorative justice in cases involving accidents. Customary institutions are still often used in Sorong City by local communities to resolve conflicts, but Law No. 22/2009 on Traffic and Road Transport has stipulated the threat of criminal penalties for those responsible for traffic accidents. Therefore, the police should investigate the traffic accident even if the victim's family decides not to prosecute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 5 paragraph (1), Article 10 paragraph (1), and Article 50 paragraph (1) of Law 48 of 2009 on Judicial Power paved the way for the recognition of customary criminal law, in which the existence of the adapt community and adapt law is recognized and guaranteed by the constitution. However, since customary criminal law is based on the philosophy of harmony and cosmic balance within society, it would be difficult to find common ground regarding the principle of legality within the Criminal Code. This study aims to identify the influence of customary institution decisions in criminal case proceedings. This research uses a socio-legal methodology that has descriptive and analytical characteristics. This research uses qualitative interactional analysis. The results of this study indicate that, prior to the enactment of Prosecutors' Regulations on Restorative Justice, the customary institution decision has cemented its existence as a source of law to decide criminal cases. The enactment of Prosecutors' Regulations on Restorative Justice has shifted it into one of the reasons for the public prosecutor to consider dropping criminal charges based on restorative justice. The regulation will require the involvement of community leaders or representatives to terminate criminal proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent contribution to this journal, Richard McAlexander seeks to reanalyze Wucherpfennig, Hunziker, and Cederman's "Who Inherits the State?" which instruments the effect of ethnic group inclusion on civil conflict by exploiting differences in colonial governance between the French and British empires. McAlexander proposes a research design that replaces the between-colony dimension of Wucherpfennig et al.'s comparison with a continuous measure of indirect rule that varies between British colonies. We show that McAlexander's study hardly poses a viable reanalysis because his approach is compromised by problems of ecological inference and posttreatment confounding, leading to biased inference by design. We propose a more informative reanalysis, indicating that British colonialism built on suitable customary institutions, unlike the French empire. Although tentative, our analytical extension lends support to Wucherpfennig et al.'s original findings, most importantly that inclusion reduces the risk of postcolonial civil conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangka Belitung Province have a community called a native population known as the Lom or Urang Lom. Legal recognition of the Urang Lom community in the formation of the Village Customary Institution where Urang Lom still lives is a very important part of the perspective of legal protection. The form of legal protection against the existence of Urang Lom is only limited to the recognition of a traditional institution called Mapur Customary Institution which is under the auspices of the Malay Customary Institution of Bangka. The formal and material legality problem in the formation of the Urang Lom Customary Institution in Gunung Muda and Gunung Pelawan Villages is related to the synergy of the Mapur Customary Institution that has been formed with the Village Customary Institutions based on the Village Law. Gunung Muda Village, and Gunung Pelawan Village made the formation of the Village Customary Institution be difficult because it clashed with the village territorial area.

Customary citizenship practices and their implications for contemporary citizenship and democratization remain under-recognized. Recent contributions to Citizenship Studies expand the study of citizenship to include everyday practices in Indonesia, yet they limit their focus to state-related practices or recognize customary practices as citizenship, only to conclude that they ended with colonization. To include customary institutions in our consideration of citizenship, this article draws on contemporary ethnographic fieldwork in a Balinese polity to discuss how villagers practice citizenship through customary institutions in the context of national democracy, in particular customary associations and social networks. In addition, I urge that we bring new perspective to these institutions by paying attention to the customary associations' informal arenas where women's roles become more visible, and that we avoid conflating customary networks with party-political networks. To understand citizenship and democratization in their diversity, it is important to tell the multiple stories of everyday practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of informal customary institutions (usos y costumbres) in local public goods provision in Mexico. It argues that the presence of informal customary institutions offers submunicipal village communities considerable advantages in local distributive politics. Hamlet communities with dense customary institutions have higher collective action capacity to organize their citizens for small-scale protests in municipal centers, which grants them access to more social infrastructure projects controlled by municipal politicians. This article therefore suggests a novel theoretical mechanism through which customary institutions affect development outcomes: collective contentious action. The study tests the main empirical implications of this theory, drawing on an original survey of submunicipal community presidents in the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala and qualitative interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customary institutions have taken a lead in providing justice and peace services following conflict in Uganda, taking on governance roles despite being relegated to only cultural status. This has been particularly prevalent in remote areas where government services are lacking, and where customary institutions remain both familiar and accessible. While this has some positive effects, it also has long term negative normative and political implications, which may contribute to uneven service delivery, increasing fragmentation of the state and impunity from the state's responsibility to address serious crimes. This paper considers the role of customary institutions in delivering peace and justice in the aftermath of small-scale conflict. It argues that indigenous institutions can be enablers of impunity and that there is a need for a more inclusive and integrated framework in which the state works with indigenous structures to ensure service gaps are filled in a cohesive and sustainable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of adat institutions is recognized in the government system of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia. This includes traditional institutions that exist at the village level. In the regulation of the Minister of Home Affairs No. 18 of 2018 concerning Village Social Institutions and Village Adat Institutions, it is stated that the village customary institution or other designation is an institution that carries out the customs function and forms part of the original arrangement of the village that grows and develops on the initiative of the village community. Singingi River Basin Formerly a kingdom called the Singingi kingdom which has a complete structure down to the country or village under its shelter. An interesting phenomenon is that the king in the Singingi River Basin is held by two people who have the title Datuk Khalifah. This study aims to explain history so that the emergence of two kings in the Singingi sect and describe the structure of traditional institutions in the country under its aegis. The theory used is the Geneological-Territorial customary law community alliance theory. The study used a qualitative method with the documentation method and was strengthened by conducting interviews with 8 informants and then analyzed through data triangulation. The research findings show that the Singingi river basin was formed based on geneological and territorial ties. The structure of adat institutions in each country modeled on the structure of adat institutions at the center of the kingdom, although there were variations in the application in each country.

The position of customary institutions in traditional societies has two faces; be a protector and solution for the community, but can also be a dominant and even compelling force. This study will examine the marriage traditions of the Tolaki community that move between apparent compromise and potential conflict. Indigenous marriages implicitly indicate a form of symbolic violence that constructs false compromise in Tolaki society as well as potential latent conflicts. Symbolic violence can be found in several forms, namely injustice in the opportunity to marry women from any group; and rejection of procedures and marriage procedures. This condition is caused by social differences in the community; there is no legitimacy of the crime and the same opportunities; differences in interests between various parties; and the dominance of the indigenous elite. However, the marriage practices of the Tolaki community bring change with the loosening of the system and the social structure of the Tolaki community which was originally "closed." This can open up equal opportunities for all segments of society to get a life partner so that a more egalitarian society can be created.

Integrating traditional institutions into marine resource comanagement has become common across the Pacific. However, these arrangements can link village-based and centralized governance systems in many ways, resulting in new hybridized institutional organizations, operational scales, and governance process. Examining the context-specific social, cultural, and historical processes that shape these programs can reveal how systems for comanagement develop, and how institutional differences influence adaptive capacity. Using analytical tools drawn from critical institutionalism and broad institutional perspectives, we assess how different institutional histories and processes of hybridization informed the adaptive capacity of two comanagement programs in Samoa: the Community-Based Fisheries Management Programme (CBFMP) and the Marine Protected Area (MPA) program. While the programs were embedded in similar cultural and ecological contexts, the MPA program became inactive following the 2009 Pacific tsunami, while the CBFMP endured. In spite of early efforts to involve communities in the MPA program’s development, the institutional history and organization of the program’s managing agency informed an interpretation of comanagement principles that did not adequately incorporate traditional Samoan institutions for coastal management, reducing its adaptive capacity. In contrast, the CBFMP gained resilience through its fundamental integration with village-based social and political institutions, social norms, and values. This analysis of institutional histories, structures, and program outcomes demonstrates that colonial legacies pose obstacles for successful hybridized governance in the Pacific, while also confirming the valuable contributions integrated traditional institutions can make to improving adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Village adat institutions in empirical practice can be formed by the village government and the community. The village adat institution formed has the task of assisting the village government and as a partner in empowering, preserving, and developing customs as a form of recognition of the customs of the village community. This research is classified as a qualitative descriptive research (qualitative descriptive research) that will illustrate the development of village government capacity. The importance of the existence of adat institutions in assisting and village government partners requires capacity building that enables village adat institutions to work effectively, efficiently, responsively and sustainably The capacity building of village customary institutions is seen from the dimensions of human resources, organizations and networks that have not been running well. In the dimension of human resources, training has been carried out, but the training that has been carried out substantially has not yet touched in relation to the task of helping and partners of the village government [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are some ethnic groups embroiled in communal conflicts while others are comparably peaceful? We explore the group-specific correlates of communal conflicts in Africa by utilizing a novel dataset combining ethnographic information on group characteristics with conflict data. Specifically, we investigate whether features of the customary political institutions of ethnic groups matter for their communal-conflict involvement. We show how institutional explanations for conflict, developed to explain state-based wars, can be successfully applied to the customary institutions of ethnic groups. We argue that customary institutions can pacify through facilitating credible nonviolent bargaining. Studying 143 ethnic groups, we provide large-N evidence for such an ‘ethnic civil peace’, showing that groups with a higher number of formalized customary institutions, like houses of chiefs, courts and legislatures, are less prone to communal conflict, both internally and with other groups. We also find some evidence, although slightly weaker, that groups with more inclusive or ‘democratic’ customary institutions are less prone to communal conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroforestry homegardens have been the dominant farming practice in the southern part of Ethiopia, delivering multiple products important for food security and livelihoods of rural households. This traditional farming is based on the labour force of both men and women in the household, however, with unequal rights to access and control over land and farm products. Since the 1990s the traditional agroforestry homegardens have been gradually changing from self-subsistence farming towards mainly commodity production of cash crops, dominantly khat. This study examines how the formal and customary institutions address the gender relations in the changing agroforestry homegardens. Based on a review of 22 legal documents, 24 key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews in 40 households and eight focus group discussions in the Sidama zone we identified that customary institutions restrict women's access to land, market and trading, decision-making process at the household and community levels. We conclude that while international and national legal documents recognize women's contribution, and their human/civil rights, in practice rural women are still disadvantaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with coherence in public policy in highly differentiated societies. It explores the challenges faced when seeking to develop policy in ways which both respond to progressive thinking and protect the interests of the poor. Land policy in Liberia illustrates the theme, specifically the 2013 'Land Rights Policy.' The article shows how pressures for reform of customary governance and gender relations may undermine the institutions of local land management, and threaten the ability of the rural poor to defend their interests. This is of particular concern at the present time, given the appetite of external capital for land acquisition in Liberia, and the close alliances which it is forging with the Liberian elite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning in the early 1990’s, grazing lands once held in common were contracted to individual households in the rangeland regions of China. The resulting fragmentation of rangelands has led to ecological and social problems. As China seeks to address intractable poverty and rangeland degradation, attention has turned to rental, or transfer, of contracted grazing land as a market-based approach to re-aggregating grazing land into larger units that support economies of scale. However, given that many pastoral regions still maintain community customary institutions, what the relationship between market mechanisms and local customary institutions should be in rangeland management needs further analysis. This paper applies comparative case studies of two types of relationships between market mechanisms and customary institutions: (1) market mechanisms that replace customary institutions in the case of Axi village, and (2) market mechanisms that are embedded within customary institutions in Xiareer village. This allows contrast of the impacts of differing approaches on livelihoods, livestock production, and wealth differentiation among pastoral households. We found that there is a higher level of livestock mortality, lower livestock productivity, and higher livestock production cost in Axi Village compared to Xiareer Village. In addition, household asset levels are higher and there is less income differentiation in Xiareer Village. It is concluded that embedding market mechanisms within customary institutions has had notable benefits for the herders of Xiareer Village, because it is a better fit to the coupled pastoral social-ecological system. Based on these findings, we argue that in pastoral communities where the rangeland transfer system for contracted grazing land has not yet been implemented, it is critical to reconsider China’s current policy approach to pay greater attention to the innovative management systems being developed in local regions. Instead of considering market-based approaches as oppositional to traditional institutions, options that derive from the interaction of market-based and customary institutions should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variations are considered one of several interacting factors affecting food security. Specifically, in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, increased exposure to droughts and floods are expected. Local traditional knowledge in agriculture (LTKA) is proposed in this article as valid knowledge to ensure food availability under climate change, given its long experience in dealing with climate variability. Focused on water strategies, we have conducted a literature review on LTKA practices in the Indo-Gangetic Plains complemented with a questionnaire of experts to identify LTKA-based practices that might be useful in climate-change driven water scenarios. The practices identified are categorized as a) water harvesting and recycling; b) local irrigation systems; and c) and maintenance, conservation, and water allocation. We found that a) despite acknowledging the potential of LTKA to face floods and droughts, very few studies explicitly make the link between LTKA and climate change; and b) LTKA in water management heavily relays on social norms and local institutions and, thus, any attempts to replicate it need to consider this. We conclude that agroecology can help to promote these practices since it emphasizes the collective management from below as the main approach for the design of sustainable agroecosystems and, thus, include local institutions as an essential strategy for adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human migration may negatively impact biodiversity and is expected to increase in future, yet the phenomenon remains poorly understood by conservation managers. We conducted a mixed-methods investigation of a contemporary migration of traditional fishers in western Madagascar, a country which has been expanding its protected area system through the establishment of both strict and multiple-use sites, and critically evaluate different models of marine protected area in light of our findings. Interviews with fishers in major destination areas revealed that most migrants come from southwest Madagascar, use non-motorised vessels, and principally target sharks and sea cucumbers. Drivers of the migration include both push and pull factors (i.e. declining resource availability in areas of origin and the continued availability of lucrative resources for export to China). Traditional fisher migrants cause limited social conflict with residents and a number of environmental problems in destination areas: however artisanal fishers with motorised vessels probably represent a greater threat to marine resources than migrants, due to their greater harvesting capacity. We suggest that multiple-use arrangements may be more appropriate than strict protected areas in both source and destination areas, because they integrate the interests of migrants rather than marginalising them: however seascape-scale management provides the best approach for managing the threats and opportunities provided by the migration at the appropriate scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines increasing prominent claims of ‘heritage’ and ‘culture’ along the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor. In particular it looks at how heritage is being used to promote pastoralism, communal land ownership and the survival of indigenous cultures in Northern Kenya. In the context of the ambitious infrastructural development projects contained in the LAPSSET and Vision 2030 plans, ‘heritage’ is emerging as a way of negotiating change. Various legal instruments, including the formalisation of customary laws and ‘bio-cultural community protocols’ are currently being developed to protect pastoralist heritage and communal land tenure. An important example is the attempts in Isiolo County to reinvent and strengthen a Borana customary institution for grazing management: a council of elders calleddedha.The article explores the ways in which these attempts to promote pastoralist heritage are part of a larger conversation about the value of pastoralism and pastoralist culture and how the heritage of pastoralism is being positioned as the basis for an alternative ‘vision’ for the future of Kenya’s arid lands. Heritage is not simply about preserving the past; it has effects on the present. This article will show how attempts to revive customary institutions are themselves part of the process of transforming space in Northern Kenya; shedding light on the intentional and unexpected ways in which large-scale development plans reconfigure the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines claims and conflicts in the management of the Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. We used data from households, key informants (elders, park managers), and focus group discussions. Poor wildlife policy resulting in space competition between wildlife and humans (other forms of land use), limited means of revenue generation for insiders and centralized benefits from tourism have accumulated grievance and then conflict between national park authority and local communities. Contested land tenure and overlapping claims generated by ill-defined property rights, as interrelated factors, sustained the conflicts. Weak information sharing, rising demographic pressure and conservation policies, giving more priority to global and national than local interests, contributed to the conflict. The result implies that efforts in revitalizing customary authorities and institutions and introducing a co-management strategy can immensely provide an avenue to manage conflicts between communities and park managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market demand for the orange-headed thrush Zoothera citrina, a prestigious songbird competition species in Indonesia, is supplied by chicks harvested from Bali Island. Using ethnographic and interview surveys conducted during the 2008–2009 breeding season we established the structure and scale of this trade and investigated means to improve its sustainability in two districts of Bali. We found that well-organized agent networks supplied an estimated 116,000 chicks worth EUR 3.175 million from Bali during the 6-month harvest season. Chicks are harvested when 4–16 days old and exported from Bali when 16–18 days old. Of 50 nests followed 60% were harvested and just 6% fledged young. Farmers deploy techniques to improve thrush food supply but lack practices to ensure continued recruitment to the thrush population. The practice of thrush harvesting started in the mid 1990s and is not yet regulated by the traditional institutions (Subak) that govern collective farming practices. Three networks determine the sustainability of the practice: (1) the fraternity of Indonesian songbird keepers, (2) agricultural agent networks, and (3) traditional village institutions. We identify the potential for coordinated forms of self-regulation and thrush population management by Subak and key groups involved in songbird contests. Furthermore, we argue that this would more likely enhance sustainability than interventions by government conservation agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After a decade-long large-scale violent conflict, the Pacific island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea has gone through another decade of post-conflict peacebuilding and at present is confronted with the task of state formation. Peacebuilding has been a success story so far, and the prospects of state formation look promising. The maintenance of order, security and justice in post-conflict Bougainville is based on legal pluralism, with strong customary law and strong customary non-state policing. The violent conflict on Bougainville was a hybrid social-political exchange, with the causes and motivating factors stemming from both the sphere of state-centred politics ('war of secession') and the local societal realm in which non-state customary issues (land conflicts, pay back etc.) played a major role. This article explores the specific features of post-conflict peacebuilding on Bougainville that flow from this context, focussing on the local capacities, but also acknowledging the contribution of international peacekeeping, particularly through the United Nations and a regional Peace Monitoring Group. Based on the Bougainville experience, the article develops a critique of the conventional Western peacebuilding-as-statebuilding approach to fragile post-conflict situations, and it critiques the accompanying focus of external actors on capacity-building of state institutions for maintaining order and internal peace. It makes a case for an alternative approach which acknowledges the hybridity of political order and the co-existence and interplay of state and non-state providers of security and justice. Positive mutual accommodation of state and non-state customary institutions are presented as a more promising way to sustainable internal peace and order than the attempted imposition of the Western Weberian model of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article is about the importance of framing in conflict situations, and how this informs peacebuilding interventions. It discusses the consequences of understanding land disputes in Burundi as a short-term problem, resulting from the massive return of refugees and displaced to their former homes. This framing of land disputes urged international and local organizations to initiate programmes for strengthening the capacities of local conflict resolving institutions. The case material shows that, though the return of refugees was a factor in disputes about land, there was a lot of continuity between conflict-related and regular land disputes. Many disputes required first and foremost solutions at the national, political level, rather than at the local level. Further, the predisposition towards local institutions failed to take account of the weaknesses of those institutions. The article further points out some of the practices that played a role in this framing of conflict and the intervention strategies based on it. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article addresses the protracted state of political violence in and around the Borana and Guji zones of Oromia region after the introduction of ethnic federalism in Ethiopia. To account for the persistence of the conflict, we must elaborate on the connections between ethnic identity, natural resource and customary institutions by introducing the notion of “primary identity”. Since the turn of the millennium there is in Ethiopia a theoretically grounded attempt to co-opt customary institutions and elders into modern governance, particularly in the pastoral sector. Field-research focused on the interplay of customary and modern politics during two electoral events, the 2004 referendum organised to solve the border issue between the Somali Regional State and Oromia, and the 2005 national elections. Analysis of local political dynamics indicates that the strategy of the federal government was shaped by the need to control the insurgency of the Oromo Liberation Front. Local political motivations also played a role. The combination of these two factors resulted in systematic abuse of human rights and the manipulation of development and refugees policies, involving an informal “demographic politics of space” that displaced the Borana Oromo from a large area of their customary territory, relegating them into a state of permanent food dependency. It is argued that the restoration and strengthening of customary governance holds the best prospect for improving this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the hypothesis that an efficient rental market for cropland is a significant determinant of agricultural investment in the communal areas of KwaZulu-Natal. An efficient rental market creates an opportunity cost for under-utilisation, which tends to transfer resources to more effective users. The efficiency of a rental market is compromised by the presence of transaction costs that reduce returns for both lessees and lessors. Transaction costs include risk arising from a possible breach of the rental contract. Potential losses caused by a breach of contract can be reduced by introducing a credible third-party to witness the contract. Likewise, moral hazard can be reduced by contracting with trusted persons. Data from household surveys conducted in two communal areas of KwaZulu-Natal were used to estimate a regression model explaining levels of investment in crop production amongst tenant farmers. The results confirm that tenants invest more when they contract with friends or family, and if their contracts are formally witnessed by a credible third-party. Interventions that reduce potential losses caused by a breach of contract are therefore expected to promote market efficiency and investment in crop production. In the short-run, the Provincial Department of Agriculture should sanction rental contracts negotiated by lessors and lessees. Ultimately, legal reform that leads to predictable contract enforcement in the communal areas is required to improve market efficiency and levels of investment in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]