Land disputes in Darfur eased by painted concrete posts
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Version 0 of 1. In a world of smartphone apps, urine-powered lights and celebrity-funded satellites, few development initiatives are as literally down-to-earth as digging a hole, sinking a concrete post into it and slapping on a bit of paint. In North Darfur, however, the simple approach appears to be paying off. Before the outbreak of fighting in Sudan’s western region 13 years ago, nomadic pastoralist tribes used to move their cattle and camels along agreed migratory routes, taking them across the desert to the Red Sea coast or to north Africa. But when war between rebels and the Khartoum government erupted, the practice tailed off and the areas they had once criss-crossed were used by farmers to grow crops. As fighting has eased in some areas over recent years, herders have returned, only to find themselves pitted against the farmers. Competition for land has increased because of drought and the deterioration of pastures. Faced with violence and the trampling of crops, the international NGO Practical Action came up with a sub-grassroots scheme to clarify the routes along which the cattle and camels are allowed to roam. Since 2011, the NGO has been using nothing more advanced than spades, pickaxes, 2.5m-high concrete posts, measuring tape, cement, and white, red and yellow paint to try to keep both parties happy. Before the route-marking began, Practical Action identified areas of conflict, talked to community leaders and drew up maps with support from local and regional authorities. The first phase of the project saw 280 posts installed along 165km of migratory routes in North Darfur. The width of the demarcated areas varies from 75m to 150m, depending on what has been agreed. Red-painted posts indicate that pastoralists are passing through an agricultural zone, so need to stick to the route; yellow paint means the agricultural zone is a little distance away from the route, and white paint means they are in a “no cultivation area” where their animals are free to graze. Practical Action says the project – which costs £10 a post or £92 a kilometre – is already helping to ease tensions and rebuild relations. According to interviews with the pastoralists’ union, its farming counterpart, traditional leaders and local authorities, the average annual number of conflicts over water, land, pasture and forests has decreased from 186 to 71. Over the past two years, the scheme has expanded and 110 more posts have been installed, freeing up 33km, including two animal resting areas, benefiting about 4,000 people. The aim is to help more than 8,600 people in 18 communities and indirectly benefit the 15,000 pastoralists who use the route by reducing conflict and improving access to natural resources. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed, who lives in a farming community in Kulkul, North Darfur, says the posts are helping to repair the ancient bonds between his people and the nomadic pastoralist tribes, which had been broken in recent times. He recalls the joint oath of peace taken by the chief villager and the chief pastoralist almost 30 years ago – and how their relationship was poisoned by the war. “The pastoralists couldn’t travel down the migratory routes due to the conflict so farmers planted crops across them,” he says. “Then when the conflict eased and the pastoralists wanted to move their animals through the migratory routes there was great tension between us. Farmers’ crops of millet and watermelon were ruined and there was fighting.” When the first posts were planted, he says, people began to cry: “They were so emotional because of what the posts mean for our future. The chiefs renewed the oath of peace in a special ceremony.” |