Changing land-tenure regimes in Darfur, Sudan

The briefing paper “Changing land tenure regimes” (2020, 14pp) by Helen Young et al. of the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, highlights the evolving and overlapping tenure regimes of pastoralist and crop-farming livelihood systems in Darfur, Sudan.

It shows how pastoralism and crop farming in the area represent an integrated approach to managing natural resources, which underpins the sustainability and adaptability of the systems to the variable climate and ecology. The two livelihood systems form a region-wide production system. Their flexible and integrated approaches to managing natural resources are rooted in historic tenure regimes, including the common-property hakura system for cropping and local grazing and the open-access rights of pastoralists.

However, both tenure systems face challenges, with a loss of flexibility, more fixed land-tenure regimes, restrictions on mobility, and a shift from shared or mutual benefits to competition and conflict. While the integration between pastoralism and crop farming of former times still exists, it needs to be supported and sustained. Understanding the challenges facing both pastoralism and crop farming is vital for promoting their positive integration and equitable access, and for the peaceful co-management of natural resources.

Posted on 1 November 2020 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition