Land, agricultural change and conflict in West Africa : regional issues from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Historical overview

International audienceThis study identifies the hyper-mobility of impoverished rural youth as a common factor in armed conflicts across three neighbouring states (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d‟Ivoire) in the Upper Guinean Forest region. Hyper-mobility can be defined as the inability to settle and forge stable attachments professionally and socially in either rural or urban settings. Hyper-mobile impoverished rural youth are not a sufficient cause of armed conflict, but their availability for recruitment when other employment opportunities fail is a major factor in fuelling insurgency in all three countries. Cutting off the supply of recruits to militia factions by providing more suitable employment opportunities attractive to these young people would contribute to peace and stability in West Africa