Why do pastoralists in Mali join jihadist groups? A political ecological explanation

ABSTRACT

Since 2015 jihadist groups have taken control of the Mopti region in central Mali. We ask how such a radical development has been possible in a country previously praised as a bulwark against radical Islam in Africa. While the dominant literature on the crisis in Mali has focused on how global political economic developments and international jihadist thinking and organisation relate to national dynamics, we take a materialist political ecology approach to explain the current situation. By focusing on the micro-politics of two land-use conflicts and how these conflicts are affected by the jihadist expansion, we seek to explain peasant (or pastoral) logics behind joining these armed groups. In particular, pastoralists seem to support the jihadist takeover, because of an anti-state, anti-elite and pro-pastoral jihadist discourse, because they have become increasingly fatigued by and disgruntled with a predatory and corrupt state, and because the development model imposed by the state and international donors has not responded to pastoral priorities. Rent-seeking by government officials has been especially intense in relation to conflicts over pastoral land, environmental management and the fight against desertification. This happened while the international community continued to praise Mali as a model of African democracy.

KEYWORDS:

• Jihadism
• pastoralism
• resistance
• insurgency
• Mali

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the people who agreed to be interviewed by us in Bamako in December 2016. In addition, we are grateful for comments and suggestions received from Connor Cavanagh, Stig J. Hansen, Halvard Buhaug, Judith Verweijen, and two JPS reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Tor A. Benjaminsen is a geographer and professor of development studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His research focuses on political ecology, land tenure, land-use conflicts, pastoralism, and environmental conservation and justice. He is an associate editor of the journal Political Geography and a lead author of the sixth IPCC report. Email: [email protected]

Boubacar Ba has a degree in law from the National School of Administration in Bamako. He is the founder and current chair of the non-governmental organisation Eveil that works in central Mali on governance issues. In addition, he has worked as a consultant for various international organisations as well as several years for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on conflict resolution in Mali. He has also published two books on development, governance and justice in Mali.

Notes

1 MINUSMA is the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali that was established by Security Council Resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013. Its aims are to ensure security and protection of civilians, support the national political dialogue and reconciliation, and assist in the reestablishment of state authority, the rebuilding of the security sector, and the promotion and protection of human rights.

2 According to Williams (2003, 131) a grievance ‘rests upon the claim that an injustice has been inflicted upon undeserving victims. Grievances are normative protests, claiming violations of rights or rules’ (emphasis in original).

3 But see Benjaminsen et al. (2012) for a critique of the link between climate change and security in the Sahel.

4 This is a Tuareg-based jihadist organisation led by Iyad Ag Ghaly, originating in Kidal and demanding autonomy for Azawad (northern Mali) and that Mali becomes an Islamic state.

5 This a rather vague Salafist organisation with unclear leadership, but with a base mostly among Songhay and Fulani and with its origin in AQIM.

6 The language spoken by the Fulani.

7 We managed to obtain a memory stick with the recorded speech by Hamadoun Koufa from a community leader in the Douentza District. It has been translated by the authors from Fulfulde via French.

8 These are not exact quotes, word by word, but rather translations of the meaning of central parts of the speech. These translations are presented as block quotations to distinguish Koufa’s speech from our own text.

9 Based on information from several interviewees.

10 Our translation from French.

Additional information

Funding

This research received financial support from the Research Council of Norway [grant no. 240315/F10] through the Peace Research Institute – Oslo (PRIO) as well as from the Department of International Environment and Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.