PASTORALISTS UNDER PRESSURE IN PRESENT-DAY SUDAN: AN INTRODUCTION

The livestock sector plays an important role in the economy of the country, accounting for around 22% of the Gross National Product (GDP). Pastoralist groups in Sudan are enduring multiple marginalization processes, escalated by strict land laws and misguided development plans promulgated by the state. This situation is further exacerbated by an administrative vacuum resulting from the abolishment of indigenous mechanisms that used to govern relations between individuals and groups in rural areas and organize their systems of utilization of available natural resources. The land issue, with its strong link to micro- and macro-political and economic dynamics, is at the core of the analysis of Mustafa Babiker's article on Northern Kordofan pastoral groups. Conflict over land resources, the main base of production and reproduction of such groups is illustrated through various case studies, with marginalizing and incoherent state policies held primarily responsible for this conflict.