Conflict, Governance, and Agriculture in the Central African Republic

In this edition of Wilson Center NOW we speak with Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding Scholar Paterne Mombe. Mombe discusses the impact the five-year conflict in the Central African Republic has had on subsistence farmer’s food production, exacerbating rampant poverty among rural populations. He also describes how revitalizing the agricultural sector is a possible key to sustaining peace building efforts in the Central African Republic as well as throughout Africa.

Guest

Fr. Paterne Auxence Mombe is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from Tangaza University in Nairobi, where his studies focus on social transformation and sustainable development. He also holds a B.A. in philosophy from the Canisius Institute of Philosophy, a B.Sc. in Biochemistry-Microbiology from the University of Ouagadougou, as well as a Master of Divinity in Theology from Hekima College. Fr. Mombe has also attained a post master’s degree in Moral Theology (STL) and options bioethics from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He served as Director of the Educational Center and as a Biology/Mathematics teacher in Kyabe, Chad. He has held positions as the Director of Loyola Hope Center’s HIV/AIDS Project in Lomé, Togo and Regional Director of the African Jesuit AIDS Network in Kenya. He is the author of the book Rays of Hope: Managing HIV and AIDS in Africa, the co-editor of Aids 30 Years Down the Line: Faith Based Reflections About The Epidemic In Africa, and has contributed to several other publications. As an SVNP scholar at the Wilson Center, his research focuses on “Agricultural Extension as a Peacebuilding Tool in a Post-Conflict Context: The Case of the Central African Republic.” A native of the Central African Republic, Father Mombe is a priest in the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church.

**Moderator **

John Milewski **is the executive producer and managing editor of **Wilson Center NOW and also serves as director of Wilson Center ON DEMAND digital programming.

See the video here