Squatters, Survival, and Militias: The Socio-Economic Drivers of Intractable Land Conflicts in Mount Elgon, Kenya

Land use conflicts under the natural resource domain have been earmarked as epicentres of contestations in post-Cold War African states. Authoritative sources have projected that these contestations are set to be on the rise, especially given the complex interactions of the socio-economic milieu between population explosion, increased urbanisation, adverse effects of climate change and deteriorating quality of land to sustain livelihoods. Extant literature on conventional Euro-American drivers of extremism has indeed demonstrated that socio-demographic indices are a fundamental aspect with regard to recruitment in violent extremist organisations. However, there are limited data analysing micro-level socio-demographic variables as determinants of homegrown extremism. In particular, this study focuses on land-use conflicts. Focusing on the historical land question in Mount Elgon Region that led to the emergence of communal extremist and counter-extremist groups, this article provides an analysis of micro-level socio-economic determinants of homegrown extremism in the land question between 1970 and 2021. The results suggest that the variables under study: age of respondents; number of years as residents in the study area; ethnicity of respondents and whether respondents had migrated from the area since birth were strongly supported, as they fed and continue to sustain the homegrown extremism equation over land in the study area. The article concludes that addressing the underlying determinant of homegrown extremism (land) in Mount Elgon Region is crucial to prevent the development of extremist tendencies. It recommends adopting multi-sectoral, human need-based approaches to tackle the root causes of the historical land question.