Edible Diamonds? Exploring the Role of Fisheries As a Resource in Conflict Futures in West and Central Africa
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EDIBLE DIAMONDS? EXPLORING THE ROLE OF FISHERIES AS A RESOURCE IN CONFLICT FUTURES IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE (ALTERNATIVE FUTURES) August 2020 By Anna Butchart Dissertation Committee: Jairus Grove, Chairperson Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller John Lynham Krishna Sankaran Nicole Grove Keywords: conflict, future studies, fisheries, fish, West Africa, Central Africa, Sierra Leone, São Tomé & Príncipe, resources, scarcity, environmental security. Acknowledgements Researching and writing this dissertation has been an important and challenging journey that I could not have accomplished alone. I’d like to thank the great colleagues and friends I worked with during my time on the Maritime Security desk, those I met during my field work and the people who gave their time for my interviews, your support, input and advice has been essential to completing this work. I’d also like to thank the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution for awarding me the Nabumoto Tanahashi Peace Graduate Fellowship in 2019. My Committee, particularly Jairus and Jon for helping me navigate some stormy waters and for valuable support and input. And of course, my family and friends who are always there for me, particularly my Mum for her essential proof reading and encouragement during our Covid-lockdown, and Dr. Katrina who has been my cheerleader and guide throughout this whole journey. Thank you all. i Abstract There is much scholarship examining the role of resources in causing, prolonging or preventing conflict. Fish have traditionally been considered an open access renewable resource and this has affected both its management as a resource and its position in international relations. However, international law has governed access to this resource since the 1980s and now the climate crisis, ocean acidification, years of overfishing and growing global demand are threatening its renewable nature challenging the traditional understanding of fish being a renewable resource. This dissertation argues that fish present a resource paradox, in that they are both an essential food source for poor coastal communities and a valuable commodity sold for billions annually on international markets. Fish sit in both camps of resource conflict literature both subject to the so-called “resource curse” and providing an essential food source, the scarcity of which could contribute to scarcity conflict. This dissertation focuses on the coastal countries in West and Central Africa and in particular Sierra Leone (a resource rich previously war-torn West African coastal state, historically colonised by Britain) and São Tomé & Príncipe (a small island developing nation with no rich natural resources in Central Africa previously colonised by Portugal). It seeks to build on existing resource conflict literature by exploring how fisheries management in these countries is shaped by colonial legacies, the global political economy, the intrinsic value of fishing licenses and the historic understanding of this essential resource as “renewable.” Management of fisheries in West and Central Africa today will shape its definition and survival in future. Fish scarcity is not inevitable, but only if fisheries management protects this valuable resource. Failures in management shaped by the resource curse could lead to fish scarcity in future with impacts for regional and domestic peace and security. This is a future studies dissertation that conducts, as part of its analysis, a futures studies alternative futures scenario exercise examining how fisheries management could impact conflict futures in West and Central Africa. This analysis hopes to shine light on the paradox of this resource and explore some of the future implications of fisheries management and whether the curse can be broken. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. i Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... ii Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... v Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Fish: An Open Access Renewable Resource? .................................................................................... 10 Divergent Definitions ........................................................................................................................ 13 Changing Values ................................................................................................................................ 14 Resource Conflict and Fish ................................................................................................................ 16 Chapter One: What is Future Studies? ................................................................................................. 19 Using Alternative Futures Scenarios ............................................................................................. 22 Unpicking the Paradox: The ‘Resource Curse’ .................................................................................. 24 Economic Causes of the ‘Resource Curse’ .................................................................................... 26 Broader Political Arguments ......................................................................................................... 29 Scarcity Conflict ................................................................................................................................. 50 Environmental Security ................................................................................................................. 51 Scarcity in the twenty-first Century .............................................................................................. 55 New Discourses of Scarcity ........................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Two: Historical Pathways to Underdevelopment in Africa ..................................................... 66 Historical Analysis and the Slave Trade ........................................................................................ 68 Capitalism and Economic Colonisation ......................................................................................... 72 Neo-Colonialism ............................................................................................................................ 78 China ............................................................................................................................................. 84 Colonial Legacies, Underdevelopment and fisheries management in West and Central Africa ...... 88 Chapter Three: Looking at Fisheries ..................................................................................................... 92 Global Political Economy of Fisheries Management ........................................................................ 92 Case Study: Sierra Leone, Fishing Village of Tombo ....................................................................... 103 Introduction to Sierra Leone ....................................................................................................... 108 Fisheries in Sierra Leone ............................................................................................................. 112 Fisheries as a Cursed Resource in Sierra Leone .......................................................................... 117 Economic Mechanisms of the Resource Curse ........................................................................... 118 The Role of Weak Institutions ..................................................................................................... 121 The Political Economy of the Resource Curse............................................................................. 130 Neo-Colonialism .......................................................................................................................... 133 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 149 Chapter Four: Case Study: São Tomé & Príncipe, Fishing Village of Gamboa .................................... 156 iii Introduction to São Tomé & Príncipe ......................................................................................... 157 Fisheries in São Tomé & Príncipe .................................................................................................... 161 Fish as a Cursed Resource in São Tomé & Príncipe .................................................................... 164 Economic Mechanisms of the ‘Resource Curse’ ......................................................................... 165 The Role of Weak Institutions ..................................................................................................... 170 The Political Economy of the ‘Resource Curse’ ........................................................................... 175 Neo-Colonialism .........................................................................................................................