Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 05/2014

We No Longer Share the Land: Agricultural change, land, and violence in Darfur

April 2014

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

Most analyses of violence in Darfur ignore the local dimension of the crisis, focusing instead on the region’s economic and political marginalization and climatic variability. However, agricultural change and other changes relating to the land-rights and land-use systems have led to competition and exclusion, and have played a major role in the collective violence that has raged throughout the region. Understanding these questions is essential for the successful resolution of political and policy debates in Darfur.