This report examines the effects of infrastructure development and shifting political conditions on trade and conflict at the Kenya–Ethiopia border, including on gender dynamics. In doing so, it focuses on how small-town cross-border traders in the town of Moyale, which straddles both countries, are navigating the area’s shifting economic and political landscape.

• The more recent infrastructural and political changes seen at Moyale’s border point are shaped in part by past socioeconomic developments, with the newly introduced one-stop border post (OSBP)—which houses the two countries’ immigration officials under a single roof—designed to facilitate legal movement of people as well as ensuring efficient cross-border trade.
• Nevertheless, the advantages presented by the OSBP remain—or at least are perceived as being—largely inaccessible to small-scale traders, who instead conduct their activities along alternative routes considered illegal by the authorities. The current situation, however, highlights the contradictions at play: while the county government seeks to collect revenue along these routes, the Kenya Revenue Authority regularly seizes and confiscates what it considers to be smuggled goods.
• Given that a majority of small-scale traders in Moyale today are women, the challenges faced by the town’s small-scale cross-border traders inevitably take on a gendered dimension. The ubiquity of women along the alternative routes and their role in physically providing transport for restricted commodities means they are often on the receiving end of official crackdowns.
• Kenya’s recent devolution process has also had significant impacts on Moyale’s small-scale traders, women included. Despite some positive assessments of efforts made by the county government, significant grievances exist, with some women traders complaining that county officials remain inattentive to their needs. Some of this resentment towards the county government overlaps with anger at the Kenyan national government’s attempts to increase surveillance and enforce tax collection, which has led to revenue collectors becoming ubiquitous in spaces where they were previously absent.
• One important strategy employed by the region’s women that has come to the fore over recent years is the formation of trader groups and associations, which potentially have a key role to play in helping their members navigate the impacts of conflict, particularly when it comes to facilitating cross-border trade in often perilous situations.
• Marsabit county, where Moyale is located, has a long history of violent pastoralist resource-related conflict. Partly as a result of this, the area is subject to entrenched inter-ethnic mistrust among local cross-border communities. While Moyale has experienced politically-instigated ethnic conflict in the past, the new politics of devolution has entrenched existing ethnic cleavages. Moreover, political conflicts tend to intensify insecurity along the alternative routes.
• Despite the various challenges outlined above, the OSBP and the coming of the Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) project has generated a sense of hope for the future, with the fact that the town is now considered a trade corridor prompting expectations not just around related infrastructure, but the perceived indirect benefits that will accrue from having acquired this status. Such developments coincide with the narrative of a turning point towards peace having been reached as a result of lessons learnt from previous episodes of violence.

This report is a product of the FCDO’s Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) programme, funded by UK aid from the UK government. XCEPT brings together leading experts to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, and the factors that shape violent and peaceful behaviour. The programme carries out research to better understand the causes and impacts of conflict in border areas and their international dimensions. It supports more effective policymaking and development programming and builds the skills of local partners. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.