Abstract
In this article we discuss how we explored with participants in a district of Northern Uganda certain land-related conflicts between pastoralists (herdsmen) and farmers. Following the end of the conflict in the civil war in Northern Uganda (1986-2006/7), many pastoralists moved from Central and Western Uganda to Northern Uganda in search for pastures for their animals. This has resulted in tension with the host community of farmers. In recognition of these long-standing conflicts and wishing to contribute to their addressal, in 2021 we set up four focus groups drawing on Indigenous relational practices of conflict resolution. We invoked storytelling and compassionate listening, an Indigenous reconciliatory process for collectively generating and implementing ideas to derive better resolution that reinforces communal cohesion. We illustrate the impact of the focus groups in establishing dialogue and reconciliation with the use of supportive quotes from participants and we also point to some feedback received from the participants regarding their experience of the research process. We finally refer to the role of the State in issuing directives that can sustain the agreements made.
Author Bio(s)
Francis Akena Adyanga is an Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at Kabale University, Uganda. He obtained a PhD. in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) University of Toronto in 2014 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the College of Education University of South Africa (UNISA) from 2016 to 2017. He is a scholar with vested teaching and research interests in Indigenous Knowledge, education for sustainable development, equity and diversity in education, inclusive education, education in emergencies, and post-emergency contexts. Francis is also a Research Fellow at the College of Education, UNISA. Francis has authored several articles, book chapters, and edited books. He teaches courses such as sociology of education, academic writing and publishing skills, education technology, education development and internationalization, qualitative research methods, and sociology of gender, among others.
Norma RA Romm (DLitt et Phil) is a Professor Extraordinarius in the Department of Adult, Community and Continuing Education at the University of South Africa. She is author of: The Methodologies of Positivism and Marxism (1991), Accountability in Social Research (2001), New Racism (2010), Responsible Research Practice (2018), People’s Education in Theoretical Perspective (with V McKay 1992), Diversity Management (with R Flood 1996), and Assessment of the Impact of HIV and AIDS in the Informal Economy of Zambia (with V McKay 2006). She has co-edited six books—Social Theory (with M Sarakinsky 1994), Critical Systems Thinking (with R Flood 1996), Balancing Individualism and Collectivism (with JJ McIntyre-Mills and Y Corcoran-Nantes 2017), Mixed Methods and Cross-Disciplinary Research (with JJ McIntyre-Mills 2019), Democracy and Governance for Resourcing the Commons (with JJ McIntyre-Mills and Y Corcoran-Nantes 2019), and Covid-19 Pandemic: Perspectives Across Africa (with A Fymat and J Kapalanga 2022). She has published over 120 research articles on social theorizing, transformative research towards social and ecological regeneration, Indigenous paradigms of knowing, and the facilitation of adult learning. ORCID #: 0000-0002-1722-9720. Please direct correspondence to *Address for correspondence: norma.romm@gmail.com
Ambrose Dbins Toolit is a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Peace and Security Studies at Gulu University (Gulu, Uganda). Ambrose’s research interests include social and environmental justice, Land and natural resource, small armed conflicts, Emergencies and Post Emergencies Contexts, Sustainable Livelihoods, food security and Poverty Reduction Strategies and Peace Building and Conflict Management, resilience building and strategies for risk mitigation and sustainable rural development. Ambrose is currently researching the political economy of land grabbing and conflict in Moroto, Karamoja in north-eastern Uganda. He holds a Master of International Development at Kimmage Development Study Centre (Dublin Ireland), including Post Graduate Diploma in Social Justice and Bachelor of Adult and Community at Makerere University (Kampala Uganda).
ORCID #: 0009-0009-8598-5825. Email: atoolit@yahoo.com
Recommended APA Citation
Adyanga, F. A., Romm, N. R. A., & Toolit, A. D. (2025). Facilitation of focus groups towards conflict resolution among pastoralists and farmers in Northern Uganda: An Indigenous relational approach. The Qualitative Report, 30(8), 4078-4105. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.7619
