Standing Wealth: Pastoralist Livestock Production and Local Livelihoods in Sudan
Publisher: Saverio Krätli, Omer Hassan El Dirani, Helen Young with Samira Mohammed Ahmed, Osman Mohammed Babiker, Musa Adam Ismail, Abdelazeem Hassan, Azharia El Bushra (UNEP and Tufts University)
Date: 2013
Topics: Economic Recovery, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: South Sudan, Sudan
At a time when Sudan is once again turning its attention to agriculture, this study takes a fresh look at what makes livestock production – the backbone of Sudanese agriculture – operate successfully. While available evidence indicates that most livestock produced in Sudan is from pastoral systems, this is poorly captured in official statistics, and its importance widely misunderstood. Indeed, what constitutes ‘pastoral’ production is itself often poorly defined. In this knowledge vacuum, transformative interventions for developing the livestock sector risk being off target or even damaging. Successful agricultural development in Sudan depends on livestock, which is its most important sub-sector. Understanding how existing livestock systems – chiefly pastoral production – contribute to securing livelihoods and the wider economy is fundamental to this development. This study was carried out in Khartoum, West Darfur, North Kordofan and Gedaref States, with three in-depth case studies on sheep, cattle and camel production systems in North Kordofan.