Livelihoods, Power and Choice:

The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat

Darfur Region, Sudan

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Exclusion from International
Processes
 Politicized image & demonization
 Lack of knowledge
 Less vulnerable??
 Access; hard-to-reach, scattered
 Broader regional discrimination of pastoralists

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The Chief at the wedding party….

“Since the problems began people say

Arabs are the source of all the problems,
and have driven people from their homes –
they blame them for the problem, and the
NGOs have changed their approach – why
do they only work with one side and why
do they blame us?”

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“There are increasing signs that Arab tribes
feel left out from the provision of
assistance/ services by the international
community, which is mostly targeting
African tribes (with the notable exception
of ICRC). This is becoming another actor
breeding resentment and tension between
the communities”.
UNHCR Protection Officer, March 2005
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Research aims

 Promote understanding and raise awareness about

the livelihood challenges facing specific pastoralist
groups;
 Engage a broader group of stakeholders and
promote a dialogue in order to promote their
inclusion as stakeholders in relevant national and
international level processes
 Sharpen the focus and effectiveness of strategic
humanitarian action aimed at supporting the
livelihoods of these groups now and in the future.

6 – : to review the major environmental issues affecting

pastoralists,
Livelihood Vulnerability

 What are the historical and prevailing institutional,

environmental and policy processes that are shaping
and driving livelihood vulnerability, and how does this
play out in terms of livelihood adaptations, and
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(power) relations between groups’?
Research Methods

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Who ar e the Nor ther n
Riz ay gat ?
 Tribe and ecology
 Northern & Southern Rizaygat
– Abbala (camel herders) & Baqqara
(cattle herders)
– Mahriyya - abbala & baggara,
– Nu’ayba, - abbala & baggara
– Mahamid - abbala & baggara
– Ireyqat - abbala
– Iteyfat - abbala
 Demography: 200,000 to 350,000
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
 Informed Choice, or Coercive Offer?

Long term processes of economic marginalization,

social and political exclusion
 Long-standing (and inequitable) systems of land
tenure and natural resource management
 Passive and active neglect by national authorities
of pastoralist groups
 Conflict; locally (e.g. Fur Arab war, Arab
Zaghawa conflict), nationally (links to war in
south) and regionally (Chad and Libya).
– Role of ecology and climate variability – function of
governance & power relations
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Direct Impact of the conflict

 Government mobilization and militia recruitment

 Targeted attacks, kidnappings and killings,
forced displacement and livestock raiding
 Lack of visibility of the losses of the Northern
Rizaygat

“The Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa, started acting together.

They told the Libyans that their intentions were to
attack the GoS but their real intention was to attack
the Arabs”
“The
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fear was that after they dealt with the GoS they
would then attack the Arabs”
 International Commission of Inquiry
in 2005

 Para 287 .. an attack described to the

Commission by some eyewitnesses, where
members of the nomadic Rezeigat tribe were
attacked while in the Kulbus area by members of
the SLA and JEM. The attackers killed forty eight
persons including women and children and stole
property and livestock from the market and then
destroyed it. The victims were buried many days
after the attack in areas surrounding Kulbus.

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 Livelihoods in Transition:
From Marginalization to “ Mal-adaptation”

 Traditional nomadic systems rapidly change

– Contraction of pastoralist domain
– Blocked livestock trade & labour migration/
remittances
– Cultivation increasing
 Maladaptive strategies
– Military salaries
– Firewood
 Quick returns, short-term
 Depend on distorted markets, conflict and
violence
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 Shift in livelihood strategies

Barka Alla, North of Kutum, Nur el Huda (near Galala), West

Darfur
North Darfur
70%
60%

60%
50%
50%

40%
40%
Before
Currently Before
30% 30%
Currently

20%
20%

10%
10%
0%
Livestock Farming Trade Migration Salaried
(Military 0%
recruitment) Wild Foods Libya Handicrafts Agriculture Livestock Firewood

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 Vulnerability qualitatively different…

 Broadened livelihood options

 Strengthened access to assets
– Natural
– Financial
– Physical
 Depleted other assets
– Social
– Human
– Political
 Skewed assets portfolio
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Choice is driven by livelihood goals

 Camels
 Land
 Education
 Militarization

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Exclusion, Marginalization and
Misrepresentation

Ongoing processes shaping vulnerability:

 Processes of sedentarization
 Youth and militarization
 Social polarization
 Loss of local & transnational markets
 Lack of representation, leadership
 International processes of exclusion and
misrepresentation
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Recommendations

 Participatory policy review of pastoralism

 Local civil society advocacy on camel pastoralism and the
abbala
 Localising the peace process and linking
 Human and social development adapted to pastoralist
lifestyles
 Improving accountability, transparency, responsiveness of
governance
 Encouraging a new generation of leadership
 Reversing militarization as a livelihoods strategy
 Best practice programs,
 joint research and learning
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Conclusions: no ‘quick-fix’

 Good governance -a pre-requisite for lasting peace

and for reversing long-term processes
 Valid and legitimate claim to land and natural
resources
 International peace processes risk reinforcing power
imbalances
 Need to challenge western models of humanitarian,
recovery and development
– Narrow view on vulnerabilty (based on food security)
– Narrow range of hum interventions dominated by food
– Short timeframes for analysis and lack of confilct
analysis
– Pastoralism as an adaptation to climate variability
 Reaffirm core human rights and non-derogable
19 human rights principles
 Thank you

Helen.Young@tufts.edu

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QUESTIONS

 What can be done in the short-term to

address the vulnerability of the Northern
Rizaygat?
 What can be done to raise awareness,
promote understand and increase the
visibility of the camel-herding groups, and
the way they are portrayed internationally,
and by international actors in Sudan?
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