environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in - Steiner Graphics

IntroductionTHE residents of the Umm Kaddada area in Eastern Darfur, like most others atcomparable latitudes within the Sudanese-Sahelian Belt, previously practiseda form of farming which enabled them to restore soil fertility. Now they aresuffering from a self-perpetuating cycle of drought, deforestation, shortened fallowperiod, less soil fertility and declining crop yields. Their future wellbeing dependslargely on breaking this cycle.Before the current destructive cycle began, farmers grew millet, sorghum,groundnuts, sesame and watermelon, all adjusted in a rotation of 3-10 years whichalso allowed for the practice of gum Arabic production. This practice allowed thefarmers to earn a cash income by selling the gum Arabic for export, while simultaneouslybenefiting from the nitrogen-fixing and soil-retaining properties of thetrees, which restored the fertility of the soil. The advent of drought conditions inthe area, aided by population growth, increased local demand for fuel and pressurefor greater food production, which has led to decreased periods of fallow and henceto the removal of the vegetation cover and the degradation of the top soil layer onthe qoz sands. The ultimate result of this process is the reactivation of the consolidatedsand dunes and the enhancement of the moving sands with all its ecologicaland socioeconomic consequences.Decreasing income has forced the local population to resort to other alternativeswhich in turn had speeded up the process of degradation. At the same timethe prevalence of drought conditions in the northern parts of Darfur and Kordofanhas pushed into the area under study pastoralists in huge numbers, searching forpasture and water, thus intensifying the ongoing process of desertification.These changing circumstances, however, have received for a long time no correctiveat all. The remoteness of the area and its harsh environmental conditionshas sheltered it from any attempts to measure the scope and magnitude of thedeterioration. The sporadic attempts to counteract desertification and deforestationmade in other parts of the country since the early forties have not affectedthis area. Even the Master Plan to combat desertification in the Sudan which wasprepared jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, the US National Research Council,the United Nations Environment and Development Program, and the Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) did not include this area. The resulting Desert EncroachmentControl and Rehabilitation Program (DECARP) did not operate in this area,despite its substantial contribution to the gum Arabic production. None of its threesub-projects, sand dune fixation, shelterbelt, and gum belt restocking, has beenimplemented in this area.The present paper is concerned with some aspects related to the physical andnon-physical environment of the Umm Kaddada area in Eastern Darfur. The work46