Nexus meets crisis: a review of conflict, natural resources and the humanitarian response in Darfur with reference to the water–energy–food nexus

Abstract

Darfur has been widely used as a case study by both those arguing for causality between environmental scarcity and war and those disputing it. This article challenges that approach by drawing on debates taking place within Darfur, reflecting on both the conflict and the humanitarian response. It argues that reviewing Darfur on its own terms makes a stronger basis to identify transferable lessons for interventions elsewhere. It considers water, food and energy, and finds that supporting governance is an essential theme for promoting economic recovery and laying a foundation for a well-managed water–energy–food nexus.

Keywords::

• Darfur
• conflict
• natural resources
• governance
• humanitarian
• nexus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2015.1030495.

Notes

^1. The Justice and Equality Movement published their grievances in the “Black Book” at this time. The other main active rebel groups were the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Darfur Liberation Front.

^2. Molden (2007) provides the following definitions: “Green water refers to rainwater stored in soil or vegetation, which cannot be diverted to a different use. Blue water is surface and groundwater which can be stored and diverted for a specific purpose.”

^3. Some practices had been developed in Somalia and Northern Kenya, for example in environmental management at the Dadaab camp, but such activities were slow to be taken up in Darfur. This may be a function of the scale of the response in Darfur, in which practitioners with experience in drylands were a relative minority.

^4. “The local food basket consists of eight food items that are typically consumed across Darfur: cereals (sorghum), milk, dry vegetables, cooking oil, goat meat, cow meat, onions and sugar. The quantity of each food item is calculated to meet the minimum requirements of 2100 kilocalories per person per day” (WFP, 2014, p. 17).

^5. UNEP have operated in Darfur since 2007 in order to coordinate efforts to mitigate negative environmental impacts of humanitarian programming and to support Darfuri efforts to rebuild and adapt sustainable and equitable forms of environmental governance. For more information see www.unep.org/sudan.