Abd El Hamid Balla

Challenges Facing Pastoral Communities in the Eastern Sudan: the Deteriorating of Pastoral Livelihood and Its Consequences in the Eastern Sudan Abd El Hamid Balla

Several factors have been accused behind the collapse of pastoral economy in the African Sahel including Sudan. These are repeated drought, rapid increase of population, and the role of market economy. Although not rejecting these causes, this book paid much attention to the role of the Sudanese state and its ineffective economic policy towards pastoral communities. Under the pretext of the illusion of development, pastoral lands have been taken and converted to mechanized farming, without taking into account the livelihood interests of pastoral people. Hungry or angry people in the east as well as in Darfur have nothing left than to fight for survival. The study consists of seven chapters covering several topics including research problem, theoretical framework, physical and human aspects of eastern Sudan, land tenure system, socio-economic indicators, and rangeland information system. The adoption of political ecology approach coupled with GIS application make the book very useful for the researchers as well as planners who are interested in understanding pastoral livelihood and designing rangeland information system.