From conflict to cooperation: rethinking pathways towards the resolution of resource conflicts in agropastoral communities in Ghana

Farmer-herder conflicts have generated extensive scholarly interest across the West African region, with scholars exploring their incipience, escalation levels, and de-escalation strategies. These conflicts remain prevalent and are becoming more sophisticated and lethal as time unfolds. Yet, studies have paid relatively little attention to how farmer-herder conflict resolution processes could be decentralised, democratised, and anchored through integrative local grievance mechanisms co-created by local actors for more effective conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence in agropastoral communities. Drawing on insights from transnational discourses on liberal, traditional, and hybrid conflict resolution and peacebuilding approaches, this study relies on primary data collected through interviews and focus group discussions with smallholder farmers, Fulbe herders, community leaders, and members of the national security service in north and central Ghana to examine the effectiveness of existing traditional peace processes whilst exploring the possibility of instituting an integrative locally driven community grievance mechanism to serve as a vehicle for peacebuilding in agropastoral communities. The study contributes to the discourse on traditional peacebuilding approaches by connecting sustainable peace with decentralised and integrative local approaches to peacebuilding, which not only provide opportunities for all voices to be heard but also empower local actors to co-produce and co-own conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes for peaceful coexistence in agropastoral communities. It argues that sustainable peace can be achieved only when local peace processes are democratised, co-produced, and collectively driven by all stakeholders without interference from state or international bodies. The study, therefore, recommends the facilitation of local dialogue sessions by traditional leaders for the institution of collaborative peace processes driven by local actors from all segments of the community population.