The Impact of 1980s Drought in Western Sudan North Kordofan state – Shiekan and Bara Provinces

Abstract

Eighties drought is one of the most destructive, recurrent, severe and prolonged drought occurred in western Sudan, have had large impacts on society, environment, and the economic, especially in the rural areas. The aim of this research is to assess the impacts of the drought in western Sudan, North Kordofan State that border the desert encroachment belt. The research had been treated from meteorological, hydrological, and socio-economical perspectives, seeking characterization of drought prone and strategies for adaptation. Remote sensing technique using NDVI had been used for this study as drought assessing index. The analysis take five different rain seasons (1984,1987,1988,1990,1992). Also site selections for observation and questionnaire tools are applied. The findings indicated that the rainfall pattern, agriculture, forest, and pasture areas, and water resources were highly affected and threatened by drought acceleration. This caused social and demographical mobility among rural population. The drought prone in Sudan had a net displacement of over 8.8 million rural people during only 1984-85/1986, while the agriculture and pasture product showed 100% of crop failure, and the country declared to be starved and welcomed relief aids.