environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in - Steiner Graphics

Generally, by the end of the twentieth century the productivity of staple foodcrops has declined, especially in North Darfur to less than 25 Kg per mokhamus. Asthe result of the declining production, expansion of plots was a strategy adopted bythe farmers. In turn, farm sizes per household decreased due to population increaseand the distribution of land through inheritance.This expansion of agriculture was not confined to crop land but ultimately becameat the expense of the pasture lands, not for the nomads alone, but for thesettled farmers themselves. At present, in all Darfur especially on the qoz soils it is‘wall to wall’ millet farming without corridors for the small animals to graze alongduring farming season.The expansion of farming on the qoz soils has not been confined to millet cultivationonly, but in regard to other cash crops (groundnut, sesame etc) cultivationhas also increased due to the market demand and their importance to the farmersto earn cash. This expansion of farming has not been limited to qoz soils only,but has included the light clay and gardud soils on the wadi beds where there isthe possibility of exploitation by hand. Moreover, the new simple and cheap agriculturaltechnologies have facilitated the utilization of most wadi soils either bythe utilization of rainfall moisture for winter cropping or irrigation by the use ofdiesel engine driven water-pumps from the shallow wells. In former years the wadiand clay soils were normally used as dry season grazing areas for the livestock ofnomads and settlers.In conclusion, those changes that have taken place in the expansion of farmingin the last forty years were substantial. Some studies have revealed that milletcultivation on the qoz soils in North Darfur has increased to 125 to 150 percent asfrom 1960. Moreover, the expansion of agriculture on the clay and wadi soils hasgrown by 250 to 300 per cent. From this situation, it is inevitable that competitionover land would take place not only between the farmers and nomads, but betweenthe farmers themselves due to lack of grazing lands for their animals.3. Livestock raisingLivestock raising in Darfur is the second socioeconomic activity for the settledpopulation. However, the livestock economy has continued to gain importancesince the seventies, so the government encouraged livestock production. Animalpopulation in Sudan as well as in Darfur, though there are no accurate figures, hasincreased substantially. This increase is due to:Firstly, the preventive animal health services provided by the government veterinaryauthorities, (implementation of animal vaccination campaigns against pandemicdiseases, Rinderpest, Sheep Pox etc) have reduced the loss of the livestockdue to outbreaks.37