Raphael Mulaha Kweyu
Research interests: Catchment Conservation, Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge & Social Protection
Investigating the role of mediation in environmental conflicts in the Karamoja cluster of East Africa.
There is growing need to resolve environmental conflicts that are occasioned by climate shifts and perceived natural resource scarcities. Some of these conflicts are trans-boundary and involve multiple ethnicities competing for shared spaces. One example of protracted and intractable conflict has been experienced in the Karamoja cluster in Eastern Africa. Whereas there is an avalanche of literature on conflict dynamics and sources, there is a growing need to explore extra-conventional conflict resolution mechanisms in Africa such as those that take a bottom up approach. Mediation, albeit a very old traditional practice, has often been ignored by formal conflict resolutions. This study proposes to investigate the role of mediation in resource and climate related conflicts in the Karamoja. The research will employ a mixed methods study design including desk review of archival data, analysis of satellite data on climate and natural resource dynamics and a case study based on qualitative field data collection. Data analysis will involve spatial modelling and correlations between conflict hot spots, climate and natural resource dynamics as well as themetazing and coding of qualitative data. The study findings will be useful in increasing our knowledge on indigenous knowledge and environmental conflict resolution.
Raphael Mulaha Kweyu is a Kenyan born mid-career researcher and university lecturer in physical and environmental studies. He has academic qualifications in both natural and social sciences having earned PhD in Environmental Governance and Management, Masters in Bio-geography and Bachelors in Biology, Geography and Business Studies. He possesses skills in Natural Resources Conflict Mediation, Geo-spatial Analyses and Qualitative Methods. He has taught several courses at the university level for over ten years and supervised postgraduate students in various disciplines. He has carried out research both collaboratively and individually in Forest related conflicts, Climate Change Adaptation in Arid and Semi-Arid zones, Indigenous Knowledge in Agricultural Practices and Environmental Health. He has carried out consultancy in different disciplines including the social dynamics of ground water management in Kenyan Dry-lands and qualitative data analyses for water and forest governance project in Kenya and Uganda. He is also a board member to the GreenBelt Movement in Kenya.