AfroGrid V1.0

Studies on the impact of environmental stressors on conflict have proliferated in recent years, but a consensus is slow to emerge, at least partly due to empirical limitations. In this study, we present Afro-Grid: an integrated, disaggregated 0.5 degree grid-month data on conflict, environmental stress, and socioeconomic features in Africa, intended to propel research on these issues forward. Afro-Grid offers several important extensions for researchers and policymakers, including: (i) standardizing (using established methods) data sources on conflict, environmental stress, and socio economic factors across spatial and temporal scales; (ii) combining these data into a single, openly-available file, maximizing the accessibility of these data or researchers and policymakers regardless of their software background; and (iii) including NDVI and dual-series harmonized night lights series that have traditionally not been accessible to researchers without advanced computational expertise. Using a series of comparative regressions at the grid-month and grid-year levels, combined with reporting descriptive statistics and visualizations, we illustrate that this temporally and geographically disaggregated dataset provides valuable extensions for research related to the climate-conflict nexus and the role of socioeconomic features in shaping conflict trends, as well as for research and policy on development, politics, and economics broadly.