Assessing eco-scarcity as a cause of the outbreak of conflict in Darfur: a remote sensing approach
Open accessAbstract
The conflict in Darfur, Western Sudan, is frequently represented in the media as a dispute over access to resources by competing communities. Environmental degradation is often cited as either a causal or a contributory factor to the outbreak of the conflict and its prolongation. In this paper, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data are used as a measure of ‘eco-scarcity’ to assess the notion that the outbreak of conflict was the result of competition for resources between communities. It is shown that there is no evidence in the vegetation mapping for a worsening of the ecological situation in Western and Northern Darfur states around the outbreak of the conflict. On the contrary, the years prior to the outbreak of the conflict experienced better than average vegetation growth in the context of the past 25 years.
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Most studies of outbreak of armed conflict typically find only weak climate effects.
“In contrast, most studies of outbreak of armed conflict typically find only weak climate effects (e.g.,94, 101, 172, 173).”
From Vicious Circles: Violence, Vulnerability, and Climate Change (2021) · cites this paper as [172]
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- Authors
- Brown, I. A.
- Affiliations
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Ian A.
- ORCID
- Brown, Ian A.
- Venue
- International Journal of Remote Sensing
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2010-05-17
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2513-2520
- ISSN
- 0143-1161 (ISSN-L)
- 1366-5901
- OpenAlex
- W2095287262
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 13.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Remote Sensing (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Stockholms Universitet
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental and Biological Research in Conflict Zones
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Transboundary Water Resource Management
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Keywords
- Darfur conflict, resource competition, environmental degradation, conflict onset, vegetation growth, NDVI, vegetation mapping
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