The Journal of Environment & Development · 1996 · 135 citations · 12 references
Social SciencesConflict StudiesDemographyPolitical EcologyPolitical ViolenceResource ScarcityConflict In AfricaPopulation ChangePopulation GrowthResource ConflictResource DepletionResource Scarcity RiskEnvironmental FactorsEnvironmental ScarcityLand ScarcityPopulation CrisesPopulation Growth RatesResource Scarcity ConflictRwanda HistoryScarcity Effects
Rwanda, a densely populated country with severe land scarcity and high agricultural dependence, experienced a devastating genocide after the 1994 plane crash that triggered widespread violence. The 1994 genocide killed up to one million people and displaced more than two million, with environmental scarcity contributing only marginally to the conflict.
On April 6,1994, President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane exploded in the skies above the Kigali region of Rwanda. Violence gripped the country. Between April and August of 1994, as many as 1 million people were killed and more than 2 million people became refugees. Until this recent violence, Rwanda had a population of 7.5 million, a population growth rate estimated at about 3%, and a population density among the highest in Africa. Ninety-five percent of the population resided in the countryside, and 90% relied on agriculture to sustain themselves. Land scarcity and degradation threatened the ability of food production to keep pace with population growth. Rwanda can be described as a country with severe demographic stress, relying for subsistence on a limited resource base. Although environmental factors were significant development issues, environmental scarcity had at most a limited, aggravating role in the recent conflict.
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Richard H. Ullman · International Security · 1983 · 482 citations
Jessica T. Mathews · Foreign Affairs · 1989 · 454 citations