{"id":20117627,"date":"2025-06-17T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20117627"},"modified":"2025-06-17T20:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:49:23","slug":"land-justice-drought-and-desertification-how-a-sudanese-town-is-standing-up-for-its-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/land-justice-drought-and-desertification-how-a-sudanese-town-is-standing-up-for-its-rights","title":{"rendered":"Land justice, drought, and desertification: How a Sudanese town is standing up for its rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Sarah Burroughs<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 4, hundreds of residents of Wadi Halfa, Northern State, blocked all major entrances to the town, preventing trucks from passing. The protesters told Radio Dabanga that they were upset about scheduled power outages, which led to disruptions in the water supply and forced bakeries to shut down. As the annual World Desertification and Drought Day is observed globally today to raise awareness and promote solutions to desertification, land degradation, and drought, the Wadi Halfa protest and blockade are indicative of the public despair in as much as half of Sudan, where chronic water shortages \u2013 exacerbated by fuel and power outages \u2013 threaten peoples\u2019 access to this essential need for life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While accurate recent figures on desertification and drought in Sudan are difficult to ascertain amid the current conflict, a study published in the ARPN Journal of Science and Technology<\/a> in 2015 identified Sudan as \u201cone of the most seriously affected countries by desertification in Africa.\u201d Over half of the country lived in areas affected by desertification when the study was published.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Sudanese woman drawing water (File photo: UNICEF)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The UNESCO definition of desertification is \u201cthe degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas; it is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations and affects the world\u2019s poorest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recurrent droughts and the resulting desertification have considerable effects on agricultural productivity in Sudan, particularly in terms of reducing the water available for agricultural production, according to the Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wadi Halfa climate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of the largest of the 18 states in Sudan, Northern State has an estimated population of just under 1 million. It meets Egypt and Libya to the north and is surrounded by North Darfur, North Kordofan, Khartoum state, and River Nile state to the south. The Nile emerges from the Blue Nile and White Nile in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, and runs from River Nile state into Northern State, where it arcs north, leaving the state and the country at Wadi Halfa, which is situated near the northern border with Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern state is a combination of inland plains of the Nile and an extensive expanse of stony deserts with dunes drifting over the landscape. A fertile sliver runs through it along the river, where the majority of people live, surrounded by desert. Northern Sudan receives a mean annual rainfall<\/a> of 100mm per year, and summer temperatures often exceed 43\u00b0C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, people in Wadi Halfa are heavily reliant on water from the Nile, which runs through nine countries to reach the town. They also rely on electricity from the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, the construction<\/a> of which submerged the original town of Wadi Halfa in 1964.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long before the outbreak of war in Sudan on April 15, 2023, Wadi Halfa was affected by a lack of basic necessities like food and water, limited cash flow amidst a rising cost of living, electricity<\/a> and internet outages, inadequate sanitation, and the spread of disease<\/a>, especially during the rainy season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has exacerbated overcrowding in the town, as people attempt to flee the conflict into Egypt, hindered by visa processing backlogs<\/a> at the Egyptian consulate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change is increasingly seen as a major contributor to the conflict in Sudan, exacerbating decades of environmental challenges and fuelling social and political instability. Residents of Wadi Halfa are increasingly subject to the adverse effects of floods, fires, drought, and desertification, made worse by climate change<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desertification and drought<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture and cattle play an important role in the local economy of Wadi Halfa, along with the mining sector. There are two agricultural seasons: juruf<\/em> farming, which is winter cropping after flood season, usually from November to March, and the second season from April to August, mainly known for the production of watermelon and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area is highly dependent on the Nile, however increasing droughts and a possible decline of the river are likely to affect the state and the country in the future, according to an ACAPS Analysis Hub report from August 25, 2023.\u201d Since the 1970s, droughts have led people, mostly Beja communities, to shift their livelihoods from camel-rearing to breeding smaller animals and working in Port Sudan as dockers and other labourers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flooding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Floods are frequent in areas within the Nile basin and low areas in the extreme south and far north. This results in the loss of crops and livestock and increases in pests, parasites, and diseases<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 29, Radio Dabanga reported that catastrophic floods<\/a> and torrential rains had claimed at least nine lives and caused widespread destruction across the Northern State. The flood sparked a public health emergency, with outbreaks of cholera<\/a> and conjunctivitis reported in several localities. Heavy rain also caused damage to houses<\/a>, electric shocks, and an increase in scorpion bites. Outbreaks of cholera and other water-borne diseases can cause school and market closures<\/a>, having an impact on education and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Measures promoted to cope with uncertain water supply in Sudan (2019, Fadul et al \/ Red Cross Climate Centre)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Fires<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of the Northern State rely heavily on palm trees, which produce dates, and thus, an income. However, many villages suffer from palm tree fires<\/a> every summer, caused by high temperatures and wind. Between 1970 and 2020, droughts affected over 27 million people in Sudan, according to a report by the Sudanese Government published in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 23, a fire ravaged more than 1,000 date palms as well as four fruit orchards of various types in the area between Abri and Tebej, known as \u201cAbri King\u201d in Northern State. The fire also damaged some nearby houses and caused a prolonged power outage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first half of 2024, 10 palm tree fires were reported by Radio Dabanga from Northern State. Residents continue to demand that the government provide fire engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observed annually on June 17, World Desertification and Drought Day<\/a> aims to raise awareness and promote solutions to desertification, land degradation, and drought. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD<\/a>) was established in 1994<\/a> \u201cto protect and restore our land and ensure a safer, just, and more sustainable future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u275d#DesertificationAndDroughtDay<\/a> is the call to recognize land as the planet\u2019s infrastructure for life. At the heart of it lies healthy soil, made fertile and resilient by #biodiversity<\/a> it harbors\u275e \u2013 @UNBiodiversity<\/a> Executive Secretary @SchomakerAstrid<\/a>
\ud83d\udcfa https:\/\/t.co\/Hov98DfR0c<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/alwRSzGrFo<\/a><\/p>— UN Land and Drought (@UNCCD) June 16, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>