The links between land tenure and conflict have recently generated a considerable body of research. While environmentalists have pointed to the importance of land scarcity and demographic pressure as causes of land disputes, recent research into protracted crises has illustrated that these disputes are triggered by shifts in the rights and institutions that govern access to and use of land. As one analyst states, “The way land use is governed is not simply an economic question, but also a critical aspect of the management of political affairs. It may be argued that the governance of land use is the most important political issue in most (African) countries.” (Juma and Ojwang, 1996) When these shifts in the institutional context and governance of land tenure result in insecure and limited access to land for large sections of society, as they often do, they become structural causes of poverty, food insecurity and conflict. Furthermore, some protracted crises transform the role of unequal land access from a structural source of poverty and conflict into a “resource of conflict”. One example is when politicomilitary elites seek to consolidate their power base and reward their supporters by extending control over land.