This article examines the relationship between the environment, society and the state in the Gash–Setit region of western Eritrea. Through an analysis of the environmental narrative of the local communities and the state, it explores the factors that have contributed to the environmental crisis in the region. These factors include population resettlement, the agricultural development policy of the state, war, drought and the collapse of traditional management of the environment. The combined effects have created environmental stresses which have far-reaching implications for state–society and inter-community relations. The analysis draws on historical, cultural and political dimensions in seeking to understand relations between the environment, society and the state.