The discovery of water under the desert should help bring peace. If only Khartoum could be trusted, writes alex de waal |
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The discovery this month of a vast aquifer, or underground lake, beneath the sands of the far north of Darfur means that much more water is available for the region's development than hitherto believed.
Some commentators have rushed to applaud the find as a magic bullet to end the war. But Sudan's history with big irrigation projects counsels caution: the aquifer is no solution to the region's crisis, and if mishandled could even worsen the conflict.
The aquifer lies hundreds of miles to the north of any permanently inhabited regions of Darfur, under an area of true desert where the only signs of human activities are a trade route to Libya and a salt mine.
Assuming the underground lake still has water - disputed by some geologists - then pumping the water to the surface will not be
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| The key questions are political: who decides and who benefits from the water? |
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technically difficult. The engineering challenge will be piping it to the inhabited parts of Darfur, or creating new oases for human settlement in the desert.
The key questions are political: who decides and who benefits? If utilised equitably and in support of a development plan agreed upon by all Darfurian communities, the new water resources could help rehabilitate the livelihoods of herders and farmers in north Darfur, and thereby boost the implementation of a peace plan.
For example, if camel herders can sustain their herds in the desert pastures all year round, then they will have less hunger for land in the agriculturally rich lands of central Darfur, homeland to the Fur, Masalit and other non-Arab peoples.
It's worth noting that such development programmes do not depend upon the new aquifer - Darfur's existing water resources, better utilised, should be sufficient to improve the region's productivity.
Ever since independence in 1956, governments in Sudan have followed their  |
