Cattle rustling remains a persistent socioeconomic threat in Sub-Saharan Africa; however, the threat it poses to children's educational outcomes is underexplored. This systematic review synthesises the findings from twenty-three peer-reviewed studies published between 2013 and 2023 across 18 countries. The studies reviewed assess the impact of cattle rustling on educational outcomes. Five thematic areas emerged during the study: school enrolment and retention, academic disruption and learning outcomes, students' safety and learning environments, teacher availability and workforce stability, and economic strains on education. The review is informed by a multi-theoretical framework that incorporates tenets of economic deprivation theory, cultural pastoralism theory and rational choice theory. It highlights cattle rustling's role in exacerbating school dropout, displacement, infrastructure collapse, teacher attrition and economic hardship, which all hinder access to formal education. The findings emphasise the need for context-sensitive education policies that address the compounded effects of cattle rustling-related insecurity.
Mwaura et al. (Mon,) studied this question.