The Case of Sudan


 Physical and Human Causes of Water Stress:

Sudan is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and if you revisit my previous blog, you will be able to see that Sudan, amongst many other African countries, is living under the conditions of being water stressed. According to the 2020 Global Climate Risk Report, North Kordofan is characterised by low levels of rainfall, extreme temperatures and drought (GIWPS, 2021). Both rain-fed agriculture and pastoralism supports the livelihoods of over 80% of the population in North Kordofan (GIWPS, 2021) but due to the intensifying impacts of climate change, resources such as fresh water are being stressed. Although climate change is a contributory factor that is impacting the supply of water resources, water demand is expected to exceed water supply by 2030 (GIWPS, 2021). Hence, population growth is a plausible explanation for water depletion as more water would be required to sustain livelihoods and households.

Figure 1: Khartoum Abdulrahman Al Duman in her farm in the Darfur region of Sudan. United Nations (2022).

Land and Water Rights:

Women in North Kordofan play a vital role in food production and water provision. Women contribute around 75% of monthly agricultural income through the harvesting of food and cash crops such as millet and sesame (GIWPS, 2021). This statistic is reminiscent of what I have discussed earlier, where households are headed by predominantly women due to migration of men to urban areas. Despite women being responsible for households and farming, power rights are given to men due to customs and patriarchal culture. Access to land rights can only be given to women through a male relative member and therefore highlights the social status of women in communities, where their empowerment is required in order for them to have better socio-economic productivity. Proprietorship would enable women to have access to irrigation as access to irrigation is often dictated by one's land rights and since women are deprived of this, this leads to fewer rights over water resources which impacts on women's smallholder farms. It was found that reducing the gender gap would potentially increase agricultural yields which can provide food for an additional 100-150 million people (United Nations, 2013).  

What Should be Done?

Gender discrimination and unequal power relations must be addressed in order to include more women in water management, for example through the division of equal land access rights. However, the division of equal rights work hand in hand with cultural reforms, as patriarchal culture tends to dictate who is given power and who is responsible for most of the work. Gender issues must be integrated in policies to include more women in water and agricultural management, and this can only happen if there is a political will to change cultural norms. 

 












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