Climate Shocks and Pastoralist Migration in South Sudan: An Ecological Approach for Political Cooperation

by Daniel Akech Thiong

Overview

In this important, multidisciplinary, open access study, Daniel Akech Thiong shows that the relations between climate disaster, pastoralist migration, and intercommunal conflict in Africa reach farther, both in time and space, than we realize.

Focusing on the climate-shock-induced migrations of the Dinka people of South Sudan's Jonglei state into the Equatoria region, Thiong investigates the long-term ecological roots of conflicts among pastoralists, or between pastoralists and agriculturalists, over access shrinking waterholes and grazing zones. In so doing, he not only offers important correctives to prevalent, short-term narratives around individual political conflicts-narratives that provide little fodder for any long-term solutions—but also sheds new light on the role of governance, both national and local, in creating or mitigating the conflicts. Thiong in fact reveals examples of unusual cooperation between diverse ethnic groups amidst climate-change-induced disasters, and these findings shed new light on similar developments elsewhere in Africa, all of which offers new lessons for those who wish to mitigate future clashes related to climate-shock-induced displacement and encourage social stability.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Bloomsbury Open Collections Library Collective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350439955
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/21/2025
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel Akech Thiong was born in southern Sudan (now South Sudan) and spent his early life in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. He holds a PhD in mathematical analysis from Claremont Graduate University in California. He is a South Sudan Senior Analyst at the International Crisis Group. Thiong's writing has appeared in the Oxford Journal of African Affairs, openDemocracy, and African Arguments. Zed Books published his previous book, The Politics of Fear in South Sudan, in 2021.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Literature Review
2. Patterns of devastating floods
3. Patterns of severe droughts
5. The role of livestock disease outbreaks
6. Patterns of conflict during climate shocks
7. Patterns of cooperation during climate shocks
8. Conclusion
Appendix A: List of people interviewed
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Daniel Akech Thiong's book offers an immersive and hugely valuable account of multilayered experiences of flooding, drought, disease, migration and conflict in South Sudan's precarious Sudd landscape - an ecosystem on the global “frontline of climate change”. The book directs our attention away from the role of the country's political and military elites in instigating conflict (who are the focus in the majority of contemporary analyses on South Sudan's wars), towards the perspectives of the affected pastoralist communities themselves, offering new depth and dimensions to our understanding of why displacement and conflict have been so prevalent in this landscape.” —Flora McCrone, Visiting Fellow at the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa

“This book explains South Sudan's deep exposure to the climate crisis, bringing together the latest climate data, historical documents on flooding - and interprets them through oral histories and songs from the flood plains. It's ground-breaking, and it's also optimistic, persuasively showing how South Sudanese people are working together to adapt to the crisis.” —Eddie Thomas, author of South Sudan: A Slow Liberation

“Superbly erudite, thought-provoking, and a readable account which unpacks the riddle behind society-wide tensions still clogging policy response in the Nile Valley. Dr. Thiong lays out a user-friendly framework analyzing the historical processes; placing them in a critical view of his long personal observation with clarity and precision – which pulls the reader along with sound methodology. It is the book for those seeking to understand what alternative paradigms of multidisciplinary nature can offer to explain the complex ecology of the Sudd swamp and its intriguing socio-economic patterns.” —Majak D'Agoôt, former deputy Sudan's Chief of Intelligence & Defence Minister of South Sudan

“A timely, unique and important piece of work. Using song and other forms of oral history, Daniel (Akech Thiong) illustrates the complex impacts of climate shocks (such as floods, droughts and disease outbreaks) on the diverse communities of the Sudd. Each chapter is rich with histories of the manipulation of resources and identities, leading to conflict, cooperation and adaptation. This study provides invaluable lessons for anthropologists, humanitarians, climate-scientists, policymakers and all readers alike.” —Dr Jacob Levi, HACE (Humanitarian Action on the Climate and Environment, MSF Canada)

From the Publisher