ABSTRACT
Analysis of the ‘ecological crisis’ in the Sudan has been a major concern for both scientists and policy-makers as early as the 1920s. In the case of Kordofan, three interrelated consequences of agro-pastoral production techniques were generally identified: over-grazing, over-cultivation and deforestation. Agro-pastoral production techniques, like natural processes, are simply an empirical specification of the processes of desertification. The Dar Hamar agricultural economy is based on mixed subsistence and cash crop production, and most of the inhabitants, with the exception of a few town dwellers, are agriculturalists. The post-colonial state, under the hegemony of merchants and bureaucrats, adopted the economic policies of the colonial government, among which primary export crop production continued to be the basic goal. The chapter describes the mechanisms underlying the development of Dar Hamar agricultural production system. The colonial administration abolished the power of the Hamar rulers without eliminating their authority.
