Improving Natural Resource Management a Feinstein International Center Desk Study
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Lessons for Taadoud II: Improving Natural Resource Management A Feinstein International Center Desk Study By Helen Young, Merry Fitzpatrick, Anastasia Marshak, Anne Radday, Francesco Staro, and Aishwarya Venkat April 2019 Table of Contents Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. v Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Roadmap ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Methods .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Part 1. History and context of disasters and development in Sudan ...................................................... 5 A shift from what makes communities vulnerable to what makes them resilient ............................. 7 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 11 Part 2. Livelihoods, conflict, power, and institutions ............................................................................ 12 Diverging views on drivers of the Darfur conflict ............................................................................. 13 Moving beyond a polarized debate and refocusing on institutions, governance, and power inequities .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 16 Part 3. An examination of climate trends in Darfur and the Sahel: a matter of perspective? ............. 18 Climate trends in Darfur, and the Sahel more broadly ..................................................................... 18 Primary analysis of NDVI, precipitation, and rainfall ........................................................................ 22 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 30 Part 4. Natural resource systems and institutions ................................................................................ 31 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Why the need to understand institutions and get them right? ........................................................ 32 Land use and land rights systems ..................................................................................................... 34 Rangeland and pasture ..................................................................................................................... 37 Water resources ............................................................................................................................... 42 Forestry (trees and shrubs) ............................................................................................................... 48 Crop residues: an example of changing strategies and relationships .............................................. 50 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 52 Part 5. Darfur’s juridical systems: a context of legal pluralism ............................................................. 53 Judiya: general description ............................................................................................................... 53 Complementarity between juridical systems ................................................................................... 56 Selecting a judicial system ................................................................................................................ 56 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 57 Part 6. The transition from humanitarian action to early recovery and resilience programs .............. 58 Lessons for Taadoud II fic.tufts.edu ii Detailed review: ways of working ..................................................................................................... 59 Increased role of institutions ............................................................................................................ 61 Key points for Taadoud II .................................................................................................................. 62 References ............................................................................................................................................ 63 Annex 1. Feinstein International Center-associated authors’ publications on Sudan .......................... 74 Annex 2. Review of precipitation datasets ........................................................................................... 77 Annex 3. Maps of livestock movements ............................................................................................... 82 Annex 4. Changing patterns of livestock mobility in Western Darfur ................................................... 85 Annex 5. Additional perspectives on wadis, hafirs, and hand pumps .................................................. 86 Lessons for Taadoud II fic.tufts.edu iii Acronyms CTA Civil Transactions Act DPA Darfur Peace Agreement DTR Diurnal temperature range FNC Forests National Corporation GDP Gross domestic product IDP Internally displaced person INGO International non-governmental organization ISI Income Stream Index IWRM Integrated water resource management NDVI Normalized difference vegetation index NGO Non-governmental organization NRM Natural resources management OR Operational research SES Socio-ecological resilience UNEP United Nations Environment Programme Lessons for Taadoud II fic.tufts.edu iv Executive Summary The objectives of the desk review are to serve as a foundation and reference for the development of training materials, policy briefs, and research studies as part of the Taadoud II program. The desk review includes a short introduction followed by six sections, which were authored independently and are summarized here, including key points for Taadoud II. Part 1. History and context of disasters and development in Sudan This section provides a background on the Darfur context, including the history and context of disasters and development in Sudan from the 1960s to the present day. This reveals the endemic nature of shocks and disasters accompanied by an almost continuous cycle of short-term humanitarian response programs. Responses to disasters and development have shifted in the 1980s and 1990s from the primarily technological fixes for natural hazards in the 1960s and 1970s to a broader focus on reducing risk and vulnerability to disasters, linked with disaster mitigation and emergency preparedness. A new era of international engagement in the 1990s combined providing assistance with protection efforts within conflict-affected areas. More recently, early recovery and resilience building programs have featured as part of the humanitarian agenda. Two perspectives on resilience coincide with how Taadoud II applies the concept: • Development resilience focuses on the social resilience of communities (household capacities, response to shocks, speed of recovery, etc.). This is the approach taken in the Taadoud II Income Stream Index (ISI) and the baseline survey. • Socio-ecological resilience (SE) relates to the functioning of a socio-ecological system, in which conditions are unpredictable as a result of environmental variability. SE helps in understanding how natural resource systems work in practice and is therefore directly relevant to Taadoud II’s work on natural resource management. The majority of the population of Darfur continues to depend on the land and the resources on that land for their livelihoods. Nationally, relative to the crop sector, livestock is expanding in importance and is now by far the major component of Sudan’s agricultural output despite little external investment. A continuing challenge is that much of the old thinking and stereotypes about drylands remain entrenched. Key points for Taadoud II: • Pastoralist and smallholder production is more important to the national gross domestic product (GDP) than oil, and therefore is of interest to politicians and policy makers. • In the past, producers have been blamed for environmental degradation associated with overgrazing of livestock, or farmers for cropping without appropriate nutrient inputs, or both for overexploitation and clearance of forests and woodlands for firewood and charcoal making. The real problem lies in multiple governance failures across all levels. • Taadoud should retain a focus on social vulnerability as well as resilience building, and the wider responsibilities for humanitarian action and development more broadly. Part 2. Livelihoods, conflict, power, and institutions Part 2 focuses on understanding how conflict, which