JANUARY 2009 Strengthening the humanity and dignity of people in crisis through knowledge and practice Livelihoods, Power and Choice: The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat, Darfur, Sudan Helen Young, Abdal Monium Osman, Ahmed Malik Abusin, Michael Asher, Omer Egemi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, the authors would like to thank the communities for their warm welcome and hospitality, and for willingly answering our many questions in North and West Darfur. Access to those communities would not have been possible without the help and support of a wide range of individuals and institutions. We would like to thank the members of the Council for the Development of Nomads in Khartoum and also Al Massar Charity Organization for Nomads and Environmental Conservation in Khartoum and El Fasher. In Darfur, the two teams would like especially to thank all those who supported and guided us in our work in Al Fashir and Al Geneina, and, during our field work, special thanks go to our local guides, translator, and drivers. Particular thanks to the Shartay Sharty Eltayeb Abakora of Kebkabyia and to Elmak Sharif Adam Tahir for the time they have taken to meet with the team and for their valuable insights. Among the international community special thanks to Karen Moore of the United Nations Resident Coordinators Office and Brendan Bromwich, of the United Nations Environment Programme, whose particular hard work and encouragement ensured that this study became a reality. Thanks also to Margie Buchanan-Smith, Nick Brooks, James Morton, Derk Segaar, Jeremy Swift, and Brendan Bromwich who commented on the draft report. We also appreciate the written response from the Council of Nomads on the report summary, and also the comments from participants of the debriefing sessions and Khartoum mini-workshop. We are grateful to the Department for International Development, UK and the United Nations Environment Programme, in Sudan for funding this study, as part of the livelihoods research program of the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University. For preparing the map of the livestock migration routes we would like to thank the Information Management Unit of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the team from the Council of Nomads who assisted them. For editing the final report, the team would like to thank Liz Vincent. Any mistakes and misrepresentations are entirely the authors’ responsibility. ©2009 Feinstein International Center. All Rights Reserved. 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Feinstein International Center Tufts University 200 Boston Ave., Suite 4800 Medford, MA 02155 USA tel: +1 617.627.3423 fax: +1 617.627.3428 fic.tufts.edu January 2009 • Livelihoods, Power and Choice: The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat, Darfur, Sudan 3 Contents Summary ................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................ 13 Introduction: Livelihoods, Culture, and Conflict ......................................................... 13 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 13 Centrality of Livelihoods to the Darfur Conflict ............................................................. 14 Pastoralism in a Global Context ...................................................................................... 15 Pastoralism and Natural Resource Conflict ............................................................... 16 Rights of Nomadic People ....................................................................................... 17 Climate Change, Climate Variability, and Pastoralism: A Longer-term View ................ 18 Livelihoods and Vulnerability: Conceptual Framework ..................................................... 20 Lessons Learned from Darfur on Livelihoods and Vulnerability ........................................ 22 Methods ................................................................................................................... 25 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 26 Overview of the Report Structure ........................................................................... 26 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................ 28 The Northern Rizaygat: History and Background ...................................................... 28 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 28 History and Identity ................................................................................................. 28 The Rizaygat: Abbala and Baggara .................................................................................... 29 Demography ............................................................................................................ 30 Local Administration ................................................................................................ 30 The Pastoral Domain and Production System of the Northern Rizaygat ......................... 32 Livestock Migration ................................................................................................. 32 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................ 38 Disempowerment and Neglect: The Vulnerability Context Before 2003 ....................... 38 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 38 Nomads and the State in the Pre-1916 Era ..................................................................... 38 The Turco-Egyptian and Mahdist Eras: Devastation, Depopulation, and Revolt ............... 41 Nomadic Society in Darfur during Colonialism .............................................................. 41 The Colonial Period: The Controversy over Northern Rizaygat Land Ownership .... 42 1956–1990: Engineered Marginalization ......................................................................... 44 1956–1990: Ecological Constraints and Restrictions on Accessing Natural Resources 44 1956–1990: Institutional Sidelining of Pastoralists ..................................................... 46 Instability and Marginalization of Institutions Related to Pastoral Developments ....... 47 1956–1990: Development Deficits Exclude Pastoralists ............................................. 49 Exclusion and Low Participation of Nomads in Education ........................................ 50 The Invisibility of Nomads to Non-governmental Organizations .............................. 50 1990 to 2002: Setting the Context for a Complex Emergency ........................................ 51 The Regional Dimension: Political and Tribal Alliances ................................................... 52 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 54 4 Feinstein International Center Chapter 4 ................................................................................................ 56 The Northern Rizaygat and the War: From Marginalization to Maladaptation ............. 56 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 56 Government Mobilization and Militia Recruitment ........................................................ 57 Conflict, Displacement, and Livestock Raiding .............................................................. 57 Blocked Livestock Migration Routes ....................................................................... 59 Lack of Visibility of the Losses of the Northern Rizaygat ............................................... 61 Pastoralist Livelihoods: From Marginalization to Maladaptations ...................................... 61 Livestock .................................................................................................................. 61 Livestock Trade to Libya and Egypt........................................................................... 63 Secret Trading Agreements........................................................................................ 64 Labor Migration to Libya ......................................................................................... 64 Cultivation Increasing .............................................................................................. 65 Access to Cultivated Land ....................................................................................... 66 Diversification of Livelihood Strategies ..........................................................................