Abstract:
Ethnic conflicts are not only common in developing countries, but also in the developed
countries. The current study aimed to assess conflicts among pastoralists in the borana area of
southern Ethiopia. A descriptive survey was adopted to collect information, summarizes,
present and interpret for clarification purposes. A sample size of 384 was considered for the
study and both probability and non-probability sampling was used. The collected data was
analyzed by using SPSS version 20. The interview guide was used to get data from the
community. The researcher used both the qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques.
Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of percentages
and frequencies while qualitative data was analyzed and described in a narration based on
various study themes. About 384 sample sizes was considered of this 370 was used for data
analysis with 96.4% response rate. The current finding indicated that, out that competition over
scarce water, pasture and grazing land as result of expanding agricultural land are perhaps the
main causes of conflict between the Garri and Borana communities. The study concluded that
competition over limited natural resources as major cause of pastoralists’ conflict. The study
recommends for sharing of available resources, proper managing of country’s borders to
control arms flow, community elders to own peace initiatives with noble aim to unite different
ethnic groups, and politicians to avoid inflammatory remarks. The study suggest for further
study to be conducted on other causes of pastoralists conflict.
