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The fragility of Côte d’Ivoire’s post-2011 peace is evident in north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire, in Bouna and the town’s surrounding rural environment. Since 2011, tensions between Peul pastoralists, Lobi farmers, and the indigenous Koulango population have grown. In late March 2016, struggles over land-use culminated in a violent confrontation between elements of the Lobi and Peul communities in Bouna that resulted in over 20 dead, 30 injured, and 1,000 displaced from their homes. What explains the precariousness of the post-conflict peace in Bouna? This paper historicises the structural causes of this violence by examining changes in authority relations governing land use over time.