Policy briefings on water, forests and strategic minerals

Competition over scarce or valuable natural resources plays a key factor in triggering crisis and conflicts in developing countries. In addition to being a source of conflict, natural resources can also serve as a means which actors can come together and cooperate. Against this background, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has commissioned a series of briefing papers on natural resources, conflict and cooperation in the area or water, forests and strategic minerals. These policy briefings assist senior officers in the USAID headquarters and experts in USAID field missions around the world to recognize the potential conflict dimension in natural resource programmes and projects.