Darfur: A tragedy of climate change

In 2003, Darfur started to attract the attention of the international community following the outbreak of the conflict. Since then, much is being written on what is happening on the ground, much less about the root causes of the conflict, and that is the reason why it has been looked at from a political perspective rather than from a scientific one. It has been described by many as genocide, resembling the tragedy of the 21st century.

A tragedy of climate change explains how the adverse of climate change has affected Darfur since the 1970s, and how the affect has intensified since the 1980s when the region witnessed a severe drought and famine. These symptoms include the expanding desertification, the decreased rainfall and the land degradation left dire consequences. As a result, more Darfurians are competing for access to land, water, and other natural resources than at any other time. The increased competition only further aggravates the already uneasy political, social, and ethnic relationships in the Darfur region. This book seeks to critically analyze the role of climate change in intrastate conflicts in less developed countries, and links between climate change and the untraditional concept of security threats.



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British rule:

However, the British allowed Darfur de jure autonomy until they became convinced during the first World War that the sultanate was falling under the influence of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), invaded, and incorporated the region into Sudan in 1916. Within Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the bulk of resources were devoted toward Khartoum and Blue Nile Province, leaving the rest of the country relatively undeveloped.

National independence:

After independence, Darfur became a major power base for the Umma Party, led by Sadiq al-Mahdi. By the 1960s, some Darfuris were beginning to question the neglect of the region by the Umma, despite their consistent political support. Disillusionment with the religious sect-based parties, Khatmiyya Sufi/Democratic Unionist Party in the East and Ansar/Umma in the West, led to a temporary rise of regionally-based parties, including the Darfur Development Front (DDF).

To this underdevelopment and domestic political tension was added cross-border instability with Chad. Premiere al-Mahdi allowed Frolinat (Front de Libération Nationale du Tchad), the guerilla movement trying to overthrow Chadian President François Tombalbaye, to establish rear bases in Darfur in 1969. However, Frolinat factional infighting killed dozens within Darfur in 1971, leading Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiryto expel the group. This was further complicated by the interest of new Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi in the Chadian conflict. Obsessed with the vision of creating a band of Sahelian nations that were both Muslim and culturally Arab, Gaddafi made an offer to Nimeiry to merge their two countries in 1971.

Increasing instability:

In a longer term cycle, the gradual reduction in annual precipitation, coupled with a growing population, had begun a cycle in which increased use of arable land along the southern edge of The Sahara increased the rate of desertification, which in turn increased the use of the remaining arable land. Drought from the mid-1970s to early 1980s led to massive immigration from northern Darfur and Chad into the central farming belt. In 1983 and 1984, the rains failed. The region was plunged into a horrific famine. 60-80,000 Darfuris walked across the country to Khartoum seeking food. The famine killed an-estimated 95,000 Darfuris out of a population of 3.1 million and it was clear that the deaths had been entirely preventable.

The incompetence of the regime, combined with the start of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983, proved unbearable for the country and Nimeiry was overthrown on 5 April 1985 in public uprising. Sadiq al-Mahdi came out of exile, making a deal with Gaddafi, which he had no intention of honoring, that he would turn over Darfur to Libya if he was supplied with the funds to win the upcoming elections. Beginning in August 1985, Libya began sending military/humanitarian convoys from Benghazi, including an 800-strong military force that set up base in Al-Fashir (Northern Darfur) and began arming the local Baggara tribes, whom Gaddafi considered to be his local allies. By the time that Libyan relations with the United States had worsened to the extent that US bombed Tripoli in April 1986, Libya was providing key logistical and air support to Sudanese offensives against the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the rebel South.

Meanwhile, the famine had severely upset the structure of Darfuri society. The farmers had claimed every available bit of land to farm or forage for food, closing off the traditional routes used by the herders. The herders, faced with watching their animals die of starvation in the desiccated landscape, tried to force the routes south open, attacking farmers who tried to block their path and shedding blood. Darfur was awash in small arms from the various neighboring conflicts and stories spread of herders raiding farming villages for all of their animals or villagers who had armed themselves in self-defense.

In 1994, Darfur was divided into three federal states within Sudan: Northern (Shamal), Southern (Janub), and Western (Gharb) Darfur. Northern Darfur's capital is Al Fashir; Southern Darfur's is Nyala; and West Darfur's is Geneina. The division was the idea of Ali al Haj, Minister of Federal Affairs (he is from Darfur and later wrote the black book and joint rebel groups), he hoped that by dividing the Fur so they will not form a majority in any state that it would allow Islamist candidates to be elected. According to Human Rights Watch, hostilities broke out in West Darfur in 1998. The 1998 clashes were relatively minor, but more than 5000 from Masalit tribe were displaced. Clashes resumed in 1999 when nomadic herdsmen again moved south earlier than usual. The 1999 clashes were bloodier, with many hundreds killed, including a number of tribal chiefs. The government brought in military forces in an attempt to quell the violence and took direct control of security.

A reconciliation conference held in 1999 agreed on compensation. In 2000, a clandestine group consisting mostly of Darfuris published the Black Book, a dissident manuscript detailing the domination of the north and the impoverishment of the other regions. It was widely discussed, despite attempts to censor it, and many of the writers went on to help found the rebel Justice and Equality Movement.



Mohamed Osman Akasha is specialized in international security. He studied political science, and then pursued postgraduate courses in international relations at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael), the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution and Saint Paul University. He continued his research at the University of East Anglia where he focused on the untraditional concepts of international security. He served in the diplomatic corps as a diplomat for twelve years, three of them as a liaison officer with African Union mission in Darfur.