Nuba farmers struggle in Khartoum siege

01 July 1998

Nuba farmers struggle in Khartoum siege

DISPLACED farmers from the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan, have had their land confiscated and sold on to absentee landlords.

The landlords wreak havoc on the local environment by trying to use unsuitable mechanised agricultural techniques, writes The Guardian.

The farming techniques of the Nuba tribes have been shaped by the need to escape incursions by the neighbouring Mysseria Bagara Arabs, who have long sought the fertile valleys for their valuable pastures.

A 10-year blockade by Khartoum, in an attempt to impose Arabised conformity on the tribes, have reverted the Nuba tribes virtually to a stone-age existence.

• The Guardian 01/07/98 page 16