Zachary Angafor, Founder of African Conflicts Response Foundation, discusses his ideas for mitigating conflict between farmers and pastoral communities in North West Cameroon, and his insights in formulating this entrepreneurial approach.

The history of violent conflict in African pastoral and farming communities is an old saga. Indeed, disputes between pastoralists and farmers over water, pasture, grazing land, as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, have transformed the arid lands of the continent into theatres of war. From Sudan to Kenya on the East coast to Cameroon and Nigeria on the West coast, the conflicts are legion and often deadly. However, in this saga of recurrent conflict is a possible solution which, if well exploited, could considerably mitigate, if not, put an end to the violence. This is encouraging and opens up an opportunity to implement a people-to people approach or coexistence to peace and reconciliation in agro-pastoral communities. In other words, to create an environment where there is deep and active coexistence of community, where pastoralists and farmers live with and amongst each other, and where everyday interaction is rich and multifaceted.

Guest blogger Derek Brown is Executive Director of the Peace Appeal Foundation. In this two-part blog entry, he describes the state of the art in the field of peacebuilding as we leave behind an extraordinarily conflict-ridden decade and enter a new and hopefully more peaceful one.

Exploring Touchstone's "If": The State of Peacebuilding - Part 2

(Click here to read Part 1 of this essay)

The need for skilled, sustained, on the ground peacemaking, working with political leadership to develop new alternatives in conflicts remains acute. Historically, technical advice in this arena was provided sporadically by international diplomats (and occasionally independent solo practitioners), who often parachuted in and out of conflict zones, with mixed results. Today we recognize the need for more robust, comprehensive initiatives that can address the adaptive complexity of our world’s most challenging conflicts.

Photo credit: Guineanews.org

PHOTO: courtesy of Boxgirls International

Guest blogger Ashok Pannikar discusses the approach to dispute resolution employed by Meta-Culture, an organization he founded after moving from the United States back to India.

Located in Bangalore, India, Meta-Culture is a pioneering organization in South Asia dedicated to the field and practice of dispute resolution and peace building. Our mission is to equip people and organizations with the skills and dispositions necessary to change the culture of discourse from one that is adversarial and competitive to another characterized by greater collaboration and trust. In a world where little is stable or predictable -- where families, communities, companies, banks, lifestyles, values, and even the weather undergo seismic shifts -- it is vital to find new ways of engaging with change and differences. To paraphrase Gandhi’s quote about an "eye for an eye…," an argument for an argument leaves the whole world deaf.

Priya Parker is a contributor to AshokaPeace. Read on to learn about what motivated her to discard her skill-building curriculum during a dialogue workshop for reconciliation efforts in Gujarat, India.

Over the last three months, as we’ve been exploring how Ashoka can best contribute to the peacebuilding field, we’ve spoken with a broad spectrum of Ashoka Fellows, other innovators and practitioners, academic institutions, and donors. One of the key questions that arise from these conversations is: What does innovation in peacebuilding look like? Or, how can social entrepreneurship help reduce violence?

Ashoka has always defined the core principles of social entrepreneurship as a focus on innovation and systems-changing impact, not (necessarily) income generation. Ashoka Fellows involved in peacebuilding exemplify this central idea: Bart Weetjens has become world famous through his innovative approach to landmine detection and removal – training African Giant Pouched Rats to detect buried mines. Similarly, Jayne Stoyles is working to position Canada as a leader in the movement for international justice, changing a system where perpetrators of war crimes in one country can find immunity (and, therefore, impunity) in another.

These are a few examples of the 80 or so Ashoka Fellows worldwide who are building new systems to ensure peace through entrepreneurial approaches. Some of the key characteristics of these innovators are: