Elaborar una flor con material reciclable y nos envía fotografía del trabajo

Many sources indicate that the underlying causes of the disputes in Darfur are economically-driven. Some scholars believe that these sources have domestic or international dimensions. At the domestic level, many academics focus on, and maintain, that the Darfur Crisis is a reflection of agricultural and alimentary insufficiency, together with a deterioration of living conditions into further poverty, illiteracy and disease. Intellectuals also highlight the marginalisation suffered by the Darfur province, which has been badly treated by successive regimes, in terms of modern industrial and agricultural development, despite the major contribution of the province to the national income (Nixon 2005, p. 123). From an external perspective, however, several researchers have reported that a set of international factors led to the complexity of the Darfur catastrophe. The fierce competition between the major, powerful, states to access energy resources in Africa generally, and in Sudan in particular, has contributed significantly to the uprisings in the Darfur region.

In light of the domestic context, a number of researchers have studied the problem by concentrating on the relationship between climate change and the conflict in Darfur.

It is said that global warming is primarily to blame (Faris 2007). A study by Salah Hakim (2011) shows that, while political, socio-economic, and ethnic factors cannot be lessened during an investigation of the key factors behind the problem, climate change remains the root cause of the Darfur Crisis. He identifies that repeated bouts of drought, caused by a dramatic decline in rainfall, have resulted in a desertification phenomenon (Hakim 2011, p. 818). Furthermore, over the last ten decades, the deterioration of natural resources in the Darfur region has contributed considerably to tribal warfare in the area. This has led to tension/conflict between sedentary farming groups and nomadic, pastoral tribes. The resident tribes own the land, while other,

23

migratory, tribes have the right to use and benefit from the common rangeland. These issues will be discussed in more detail later in chapter three. For precisely this reason, numerous tribal conflicts have erupted due to strong competition for access to natural resources between the settled farmers and nomadic herders (Hakim 2011, p. 818).

Hakim goes beyond this to assume that a political solution is not enough to solve the problem. It could terminate the hostilities and so avoid humanitarian catastrophe, but it cannot approach the fundamental cause of the Darfur Crisis, which is driven by climate change.

According to Hakim, the optimal solution for the crisis is seeking to develop the Darfur region through the adoption of strategies that fit with climate change. These kinds of strategies should provide the Darfurians with new, alternative, livelihoods that are more rewarding financially, such as encouraging them to do all economic activities, which tends to reduce the level of poverty and reduce the pressure on natural resources that have already been overused. In addition to the robust development of Darfur, Hakim suggests that there should be an awareness campaign which goes hand in hand with the implementation of the development plan to help people to understand how to rationalise their consumption of natural resources in preparing for drought and confronting the drastic implications of climate change.

This can be done by adopting a new agriculture policy that must be mainstreamed by central and local governments. Adoption of the native administration is also called for in Darfur. Likewise, Mohamed Yonis (cited in Schlein 2011) the Deputy Joint Special Representative of the African United Nation Mission in Darfur, has stated that “Water is one of the main root causes of the Darfur crisis” (Schlein 2011). He believes that water can be the main means for peace. Well-managed and distributed water can contribute to building peace among the people of Darfur. He also argues that a political solution is needed, but that it remains elusive. Yonis concludes that there should be projects that aim to rebuild the water infrastructure with new technologies and systems that enable the people to adequately manage water and to face climate change.

This view has been supported by Robin Bovey (cited in Schlein 2011). Bovey suggested that if we wanted to solve the Darfur Crisis we should effectively manage the freshwater resources. He believes that additional droughts will occur due to climate change, and he confirms that a prolonged and abnormal shortage of rainfall

24

occurs naturally in cyclical patterns. Nils Kastberg, the representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Sudan, moreover states that “getting access to water requires peace. And peace can best be achieved at the local level” (cited in Schlein 2011). The access to freshwater issue could be used to establish a dialogue between the different groups in the region. Freshwater distribution discussions could assist the existing mechanisms to manage the freshwater supply and to unite the opposing interests of the conflicting parties. A number of influential figures, such as the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former US Vice President Al Gore, staff at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Jeffrey Sachs and Mahmood Mamdani, and the authors of the Stern Report on the economics of climate change, have emphasised that the hostilities in the Darfur area are a climate crisis, caused by long-term drought since 1997 (cited in Kevane and Gray 2008, p. 1). Therefore, all these points of view support the perspective that argues that the solution to the Darfur crisis can only be achieved from inside, not outside.

However, a related argument is made by Michael Kevane and Leslie Gray (2008). It reports that diminishing resources, or scarcity of freshwater, caused by declining rainfall due to climate change cannot be considered a root cause of the Darfur conflict. Data on rainfall has significantly not reflected a decline in rainfall patterns across the thirty years immediately prior to the eruption of the conflict in 2003. A challenge is that those who argue that climate change, resulting in an important decline in rainfall in Darfur, which led to a lack of freshwater resources, is a major reason for the Darfur conflict rarely provide accurate data on rainfall patterns to support their arguments. They tend to rely only on a general understanding that Darfur is part of the Sahel, an area where rainfall has been low, variable, and in decline. They do not necessarily present evidence to show that there was a significant change in rainfall that directly intensified the civil war in Darfur. Instead Kevane and Gray (2008) attribute the crisis to the regime in Khartoum’s willingness to eliminate the political opposition and perceived threats from the peripheral regions of the country, even by using large-scale violence against civilians. Whilst it might be feasible to agree with Kevane and Gray that many commentators have not presented accurate data to validate their claims, it cannot be fully concluded that the crisis is a political conflict resulting from the GoS’s willingness to crush political opposition

25

(Kevane, Gray 2008). Nevertheless, Kevane and Gray also fail to present clear explanations to support their claims.

Iana Brown (2010) expressed a similar view, Brown's investigation was conducted mainly in two regions, Western Darfur and Northern Darfur. She found that the worsening of eco-scarcity in both areas as the underlying cause of the conflict at the outset cannot be proved. On the contrary, she observed that in the years prior to the start of the conflict the growth in average vegetation was significantly better than in the previous twenty-five years (Brown 2010, p. 2513).

A handful of scholars have focused on development in the Darfur state. A study conducted by Issam Mohamed (2011) assesses the economics of freshwater resources in the Southern Darfur region, and their role in developing the region which, in turn, is a positive reflection on the continuation of the Darfur Crisis. Hence, Mohamed’s study refutes the assumption that there was a shortage of freshwater sources in Darfur. Mohamed claims that there is sufficient freshwater in the region.

The sources are of several different kinds due to topographical variations, rainfall, and drainage volume and underground water storage in the province. Furthermore, Mohamed notes that the freshwater resources in Darfur are not only abundant, but could also be a key factor in concluding the conflict and the humanitarian struggle there, together with the development of the region. In addition, Mohamed correctly argues that this can only be achieved if the GoS makes more efforts to effectively benefit from these resources. The writer makes it clear that development is possible, with the proper financing and honest efforts to exploit existing untapped freshwater resources, and that it would suffice for all economic projects. Thus, it is strongly agreed that focusing on development in Darfur would significantly, and positively influence stability and peace there. However, development should not only be limited to freshwater resources, but necessitates making significant efforts to developing all aspects of life as well as the elimination of financial and administrative corruption, which is a problem not only in Sudan but all over the African continent.

Ola Olsson (2010b) developed a general model of relations between natural resources (land, in particular) and market integration in vulnerable environments, especially a community primarily inhabited by farmers and herders who can either equally share land in a market economy or in an autarky. Olsson argues that

26

decreasing resources can damage mutual trade between the two groups, which in turn makes each group’s welfare interdependent. According to Olsson, increasing resource scarcity is likely to cause more social tension between groups populated in the same location. He contends that in Darfur market integration has collapsed, partly due to the diminishing effectiveness of land resources in the region. The author also argues that ineffective land resources have declined drastically since the 1970s due to a 20% decline in rainfall. Such observations may allude to reasons for the disintegration of a market-like economy and the onset of appropriative conflicts since the 1980s in Darfur (Olsson 2010b, p. 2). In Darfur the relevant natural resource is land and the majority of the population are divided between either farmers or pastoralists, sharing communal land where there are no strong individual ownership rights to land. If we assume that Olsson’s model can be applicable to any context with a heavy reliance on natural resources, it is noteworthy to mention that decreasing resources can lead to a collapse in trade between groups that are heavily dependent on natural resources, but that this is not permanent or likely to create social conflict. There are several assisting factors that would have to be present for such an outcome. Groups in Darfur are from different ethnic backgrounds and each has different political agendas. In addition, regional actors might also play a key role and exploit resource-scarcity to trigger a social conflict.

In light of the external context, work by Andrea Behrends (2008) addresses a case of fighting for oil when there is no oil yet. It concentrates on the role of major local actors directly involved in the conflict across the Darfur-Chad boarder (rebel groups and militias); national actors (Sudanese and Chadian governments) and international actors (multinational companies, the USA, China, and the UN). This study tries to illustrate how oil can have drastic consequences, even when reserves have not yet been proven, with regard to the future possibility of stability in the country. Behrends (2008) sought to answer two main posed questions. Firstly, how has oil, both as a local possibility and a national reality in Chad and Sudan, influenced the continuation of fighting on the border region between Darfur and Chad? Secondly, to what extent are the actors involved in this fighting motivated by the oil factor? He declares that while the insurgency in Chad is evidently linked with oil revenues, there is no evidence to confirm that the conflict in Darfur is directly associated with the presence of natural oil, but evidently has become part of the conflict’s

27

continuation. While, for the combatants in Darfur oil was not a reason to reach a negotiated settlement and agreement to end the fighting in the area, in Chad oil was the reason to continue fighting and acted as a motivation for securing power. In contrast, for the government on both sides of the border, oil has become the underlying reason to not let the rebels win. According to Behrends (2008), oil has influenced the continuation of the Darfur Crisis with different dynamics. In the course of the fighting, oil has gained significance as a narrative to justify the continuation of the rebellion (Behrends 2008, p. 52). Behrends concludes that although oil was not the main reason of the breakout of warfare in Darfur and Chad, fighting for oil has become part of the conflicts' continuation. In this respect it may be inferred that the evidence suggests that oil has significantly influenced the duration of the Darfur crisis. But the question is how can the GoS and international actors use oil as a means to halt the fighting and end the crisis?

Helen Young et al (2007) examined the influence of the recent Darfur Crisis on the patterns of Darfurian migrant workers to Libya and their remittance flows. How this civil conflict impacted the livelihoods of Darfurians in Libya was also investigated.

The study focuses on the ways in which continued changes in Libyan political and economic policies affect migration for Sudanese workers from Darfur to Libya in the opposite direction. In general, the authors found that despite Libya relying heavily on foreign migrant workers, particularly Darfurian workers, work opportunities for Sudanese in Libya have been significantly influenced by upturns and downturns in the Libyan economy. This unstable economic situation was the result of Libya’s politically volatile relations, since the 1980s, with the international community as well as changes in world oil prices. More importantly, the study reveals that the closure of national boundaries between Libya and Sudan in May 2003, due to the eruption of armed conflict in Darfur, led to the prevention of thousands of Darfurian workers being able to return, and even created difficulties for them to communicate with their families and send back their remittances. The number of Darfurian migrant workers traveling from Darfur to Libya has also been restricted². For geographic and economic reasons, Libya is an attractive place for Darfurian migrants, particularly during periods of drought and famine (especially the 1970s and 1980s). The

2 Ofcial estimates of Darfurian migrant workers in Libya were unavailable but were estimated to be between 150,000 and 250,000 (Young, Osman and Dale 2007, p. 826).

28

economic and social marginalisation, practiced by the central GoS upon peripheral areas like Darfur, is another motivation. Remittance flows are a prime source of livelihood for Darfurian income (Young, Osman and Dale 2007, p. 826).

Helen Young et al (2007) posit that any international attempt to respond to the Darfur Crisis and its implications requires a deep understanding of the patterns and mechanisms of migration of the affected population and their remittance flows. In both the short and long terms, a number of policies that could lead to an improvement in conditions for the Darfurian migrant workforce in Libya, to facilitate their traffic, and to ease the flow of remittances, are recommended. Young, Osman and Dale concludes that, until a resolution to the crisis, and thus peace, is achieved, Libya will remain an attractive destination for Darfurians. Therefore, the Darfur Crisis’ implications are not only seen as domestic, and damaging merely to the economy of Darfur, as Olsson (2010) expresses. They extend beyond the national frontier to directly or indirectly affect the economies of neighbouring countries, such as Libya. From another angle, and given the evidence, a big question emerges here:

has the continuation of the civil conflict in Darfur affected the Libyan economy and how have the Libyan authorities used this issue in their strategy to resolve the crisis?

Research carried out by Tanner Young (2009, pp. 14-18) has offered an argument that economic incentives are driving current events in Darfur. He pointed out that the underlying causes and events that led to Darfur’s genocide are that the country’s government followed a repeated pattern of violence for the sake of economic interests, through the armament of ethnic militias who in turn used force to defend foreign petroleum operations violently, such as Chinese oil installations, in order to secure access for oil companies to begin exploiting oil (Fake and Funk 2009, p. 58).

It is clear from the existing literature that has addressed the economic dimensions of the Darfur Crisis, which the conflict between different groups and tribes in the region is not primarily ethnic or religious (yet) it might be a result of the region’s struggle in relation to food and agricultural insufficiency, deterioration in living conditions, poverty, ignorance and disease. These are problems which the different regimes that have ruled Sudan have failed to solve. Imbalances in development among the regions over the entire territory of Sudan, especially Darfur, are regarded as among the key causes leading to the eruption of the crisis. Darfur has existed in a condition of economic backwardness, weakness in resources, execution of infrastructure, and high

29

unemployment. The worsening of these conditions has dramatically increased with the increase in conditions of desertification that the region has witnessed since the 1980s. This has led to a decline in agricultural production, which importantly contributes to feeding the conflicts between the groups and the tribes that mainly rely, for their living, upon natural resources, such as land and water. However, adopting the economic approach to investigate the crisis in Darfur is very useful as the most of the previous literature state that the absent of the development and effective economic policies by the Sudanese successive governments in Darfur has fundamentally led to the instability there. However, the economic approach is insufficient to look at, but may be able to give us only a part of the Darfur Crisis scene not the whole.