Sudan, including the area of South Sudan from 2011, has always been a volatile region, facing political unrest, a harsh and varying climate along with extreme poverty. Since British colonization at the turn of the 20th century, outside influence and new technology have shifted agricultural practices in Sudan. From subsistence farming to a more export based industry, new irrigation technology has played the largest role in this shift. This, along with greater western influence and control, has had majorly negative impacts on both agricultural practice and society in Sudan to this day.
The climate of Sudan is, and has always been, greatly varied by region and chance- from deserts with frequent droughts to severe flooding (Mahgoub 8). Despite …show more content…
This traditional agriculture was suited to the area, though not fully stable. Naturally more susceptible to environmental and other impacts, they were adaptable enough to the varying challenges in climate and old technology. With that said, it seems as if irrigation technology would be good for local farmers, as there is a strong positive correlation between labour input and product output as technological advances are incorporated. However, there are financial and values-based setbacks in acquiring and transitioning to using new technology and farming methods for traditional farmers. This is extremely common, especially when centuries of a region’s culture have been based in their agricultural practices (mellor 222). The larger implications of change prevent its acceptance even further, such as the western intervention and resistance to it. Traditional agriculture in the area was based simply on hard work and land as inputs, and the addition of money into the process marks the shift to commercial farming in Sudan (210 mellor …show more content…
In fact, agriculture makes up nearly a third of the GDP of Sudan, and is based largely by international corporations using the land for export crops. Unfortunately, a major sacrifice when growing this large amount to export, is the lives and hunger of local communities. As one of the lasting impacts of colonization, this commercialized farming is draining resources from local communities in an unsustainable way (Abdelkarim). The majority of this large-scale farming is only possible because of more recent irrigation technology, which has helped the most powerful, but continues to hurt local communities and traditional
The climate of Sudan is, and has always been, greatly varied by region and chance- from deserts with frequent droughts to severe flooding (Mahgoub 8). Despite …show more content…
This traditional agriculture was suited to the area, though not fully stable. Naturally more susceptible to environmental and other impacts, they were adaptable enough to the varying challenges in climate and old technology. With that said, it seems as if irrigation technology would be good for local farmers, as there is a strong positive correlation between labour input and product output as technological advances are incorporated. However, there are financial and values-based setbacks in acquiring and transitioning to using new technology and farming methods for traditional farmers. This is extremely common, especially when centuries of a region’s culture have been based in their agricultural practices (mellor 222). The larger implications of change prevent its acceptance even further, such as the western intervention and resistance to it. Traditional agriculture in the area was based simply on hard work and land as inputs, and the addition of money into the process marks the shift to commercial farming in Sudan (210 mellor …show more content…
In fact, agriculture makes up nearly a third of the GDP of Sudan, and is based largely by international corporations using the land for export crops. Unfortunately, a major sacrifice when growing this large amount to export, is the lives and hunger of local communities. As one of the lasting impacts of colonization, this commercialized farming is draining resources from local communities in an unsustainable way (Abdelkarim). The majority of this large-scale farming is only possible because of more recent irrigation technology, which has helped the most powerful, but continues to hurt local communities and traditional