0843-A2
Nagla Mahgoub Hamadain Jepory[1]
The problems of forest degradation and insecurity of supply of forest products and services in fragile environs of the Gum Belt in Central Sudan are appreciated by local communities and by federal and state forest authorities. The problems cannot be solved by either party on its own, hence the need to pool resources and coordinate efforts. The effective role of civil society organizations such as Gum Producersí Associations in Northern Kordofan has been proven.
Gum arabic from the hashab tree (Acacia senegal) is the main non-wood forest product providing income to farmers in the Gum Belt of Sudan and contributing significantly to the country's foreign currency earnings. Annual exports of gum arabic range between US$20 - 80 million.
Hashab was the main tree species requested from and produced by the community forest nurseries. The inhabitants of the Gum Belt are traditionally gum producers. During the drought spells of the 1970s and 1980s, the tree stocks were severely reduced. The willingness to purchase seedlings to plant and replenish gum gardens was demonstrated by the seedling sales in the mid 1980s.
Two major factors seem to have enhanced this demand for hashab: firstly, the loss of trees during the drought and the increased recognition of their utility during difficult times as sources of food and income; and secondly the much welcomed progressive increase in the price of gum arabic between the mid 1980s and mid 1990s. Then, during the last five years of the 1990s the commodity faced enormous marketing problems, which discouraged farmers from tapping gum and even encouraged some to cut down their trees and convert them to charcoal. The Forests National Corporation, North Kordofan State, was determined to find a solution to this disaster through community participation.
This paper discusses how to help gum-producing communities overcome their environmental and economic difficulties.
Sudan is a vast country with an area of 2.5 million square kilometres (s. km). The economy is predominantly agricultural (including livestock production, forestry, and fishing) which altogether used to contribute almost half the GDP up to 2000 when the country started to exploit its petroleum oil resources. Ecologically, Sudan can be divided into five vegetation zones from north to south, according to rainfall patterns: Desert (0-75 mm), Semi-desert (75-300 mm), Low Rainfall Savannah (300-900 mm), High Rainfall Savannah (900-1800 mm) and Flood Plains & Montane Vegetation (500-2000 mm) which constitute 29, 20, 25, 18 and 8 percent of the countryís surface area respectively.
Forestry activities started in the Sudan one hundred years ago. Forestry legislation started in 1900 by the promulgation of the first Forest Act. Many other laws followed. The most salient of these is the endorsement of Sudanís Forest Policy in 1932, the revision thereof in 1986, enactment of the Forests National Corporation (FNC) and Revision of the Forest Act in 1989 and enactment of the National Corporation of Forests & Natural Resources in 2002.
Perhaps the most tangible benefit derived by the people of Sudan from their forests is fuelwood, building poles and sawn timber. According to the results of the Forest Products Demand Survey (1994), Sudan would have consumed in 2002 energy equivalent to eight million tons of oil equivalent, 70% of this in the way of wood, charcoal and other biomass.
Other products derived by people of Sudan from their forests include protection of watershed, fodder for domestic and wildlife, and a range of Non Wood Forest Products (NWFP), the most important of which is Gum Arabic (GA). The annual exports of G A range between 20-35 thousand tons fetching some U$S 20- 80 million.
Forest and woodland area in Sudan had been estimated in the mid fifties to constitute about 34% of the total of the countryís surface are area (875 s.km). Results of a partial national forest inventory in 1995 estimated the area of forests as 15% of the total area of the northern states. Forests areas seem to be inversely proportional to population density; whereas 68% of forests are present in the South where 15% of the population lives, 32% of forests are present Northern Sudan and where 85% of the population lives.
The area of forest estate is insufficient and inadequate to provide the required forest products and services. Many actions are therefore needed to protect and expand the remaining forest estate, including people participation. The Forest Policy of 1986 and the establishment of the FNC in 1989 have enormously facilitated this process. The Policy recognized community and private forests. A Presidential Degree in 1993 which expedited the registration of some 4 million hectares as forest reserves, was an important step in increasing the area that could be managed on a sustainable basis. Legal stipulation in the 1989 Forest Act aims at setting aside 5 % and 10% of irrigated and rainfed agricultural land respectively for tree planting. Important changes are yet to be made in policy and legislation pertaining to forest and tree resources management, extra budgetary resources, enhancement of public awareness and promotion of peopleís participation.
Some form of FE started in Sudan in the mid fifties of last century when GA producers were instructed on means of tree management and tapping. F E then assumed a more formal manner and encompasses a wider approach and target groups in the mid eighties. FE as it is practiced in Sudan today, is used to cover any situation in which local people are directly and willingly involved in forestry activities from which they may derive some recognizable benefit within a reasonable period of time. When the term " communityî is used, it should be interpreted in its widest possible sense, as the population of a village, or an area, or a section of population or any group of people having some common interest, as appropriate to the context.
The overall objectives of Sudanese FE are to:
Create an awareness within the people of the benefits of trees and forests, both in providing essential products for their daily needs and in protecting their environment,
Develop an appreciation of the forests and natural resources and the proper attitude and interest to acquire knowledge and skills to manage, develop, protect and evaluate these life sustaining resources,
Support tree planting, including establishment of community woodlots, shelterbelts and wind breaks by villagers, groups and individuals,and
Encourage women to use improved energy saving stoves.
Planning of F E in Sudan involves several steps from assessment of needs to identification and selection of village extension workers, design of activities, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
F E workers work with many groups. They function within their particular organization (Federal or state). With the spread of so many universities and colleges with forestry options, more subject matter specialists are available sources of information for them to better their work standards. In addition to their prime audience interact with various other groups including international aid agencies, researchers etc.
Population estimates of communities occupying the Gum Belt (GB) of Sudan, which stretches, between Lat. 10 and 14 N are uncertain. Darfur, Kordofan, Upper Nile, Sennar, Blue Nile and Gadaref States account for some 10 million people, with perhaps some 3. 0 million people living in the GB.
NWFP utilized in the GB of Sudan include fruits, fibers, vegetable oil, fodder and medicinal plants, all contributing to cottage and other industries supporting livelihoods in rural areas. GA is the main NWFP that provides income to farmers besides its significant contribution to the country's foreign cash earnings which annually amount to some $ US 20-80 million. Apart from producing gum, Acacia trees play important functions in many other facets of peasant life
e.g.: Branches are used for fuel, to protect the soil from erosion, foliage as fodder, shade for animals, roots for rope making and for lining wells, and the trees increase soil fertility. At the end of the rotation tree are used for building poles or burnt into charcoal. The contribution of gum producing trees (A. senegal and A.seyal) to agricultural and animal production through soil amelioration and fodder is perhaps even greater than the gum value.
Gum was originally tapped from wild trees. Subsequently, in areas close to villages or centers of population, areas of trees were owned. Then a system of cropping was developed employing an A. senegal fallow. With recent increases in population, Acacia was forced out of the fallow in certain areas. Apart from affecting gum production, the shortening of the tree crop fallow rotation negatively affected soil fertility and stability with adverse effects on crop productivity and food security. The situation was made worse by recurring drought spells which lead to large scale tree mortality particularly in the northern parts of Kordufan and Darfur culminating in partial or total collapse of the bush fallow system.
To redress the situation, Sudan Government embarked on a massive campaign to restock the gum belt assisted by a number of donor countries and international organizations such as Finland, Holland, UNSO and FAO. The activity was orchestrated under the generic term "Restocking of the Gum Belt Project (RGB)". Through this project farmers were provided with seeds and seedlings to plant in their own fields together with a well structured extension message Similar activities also took place elsewhere in the gum belt, spear- headed by the FE unit of FNC.
The study area is North Kordofan (NK) State which has 8.4 million ha under forests and woodlands.Until the early 1960's, NK annually produced about 30 000 tons of GA, representing 50 % of Sudan's total production. Another 20 000 tons were produced by other regions to make up 60 % of global demand for GA.
Almost half the vegetation cover of NK was lost during the droughts in 1973 and 1984. Consequently, the yield of agricultural crops and GA production decreased significantly.
A unit for development of social organizations was established by RGB in 1992 to organize and mobilize farmers and rural groups that had participated in reforestation of their small holdings. The establishment of Gum Producers' Associations (GPA) was one of the outcomes of the activity.
The main aim of GPA was to consolidate the idea of self reliance among rural groups to work for the development of GB, sustain GA production and work towards overall rural development. Other aims of GPA included:
Reduction of the dependence of farmers-cum -gum producers on the informal credit system known as (Al shail) which is extortionate on borrowers,
Gradually ridding gum producers from middlemen who benefit more from the transaction than either producer or purchaser,
To help keep the rural groups in their villages and attach them to their holdings to maintain gum production and other forms of production,
To maintain cooperation among the groups of the rural areas through social organization.
To sensitize rural population and raise their awareness about the environment and the role gum producing and trees have on it,
To build rural capacity though training of GPA executives on relevant administrative management and financial aspects,
To train gum producers on recent technology in the field of gum production and gum marketing to increases the incomes,
To activate cooperative marketing of agricultural products,
To coordinate with companies and organizations working in the field of rural development to solve the problems of water, health and education in the villages within the gum belt.
The establishment of GPA followed an intricate system of surveys of villages, potential members, Hashab holdings, stocking density, levels of knowledge of gum production, initial processing, finance and marketing, calling for a general meeting to initiate establishment and election of executives. Established associations are eventually registered with state and federal authorities in charge of FE, Credit, marketing, and social amenities.
Record track of many such societies in NK indicates that they are viable and effective in achieving their set goals.
There is a wide range of forest benefits and products which rural people in the GB of Sudan, derive from public or private forests and woodlands, produce/gather, directly use and/or trade in or sell to generate an income. A major benefit derived is soil amelioration, protection of agricultural land, and feed and shade for domestic livestock. The most tangible benefits include fuelwood, building poles, GA and other fruit and medicinal plants. GA is crucial for both rural and national economies.
The reduction in forest area and degradation brought about by population pressure and drought spells greatly endanger the sustainability of forest benefits and products.
Government, forest authorities and rural communities are aware of the problem and the means of each alone are insufficient to top the forest depletion or reverse it. The pooling of resources and efforts in inevitable. Civil society organizations such as GPA in NK have proven their viability and effectiveness.
Anon. (2002). Results of Fourth Population Census. Sudan Federal Bureau of Statistics. Khartoum
Seif el Din (Unpublished) 1996. The Natural Regeneration of Acacia Senegal (L.) willd. MSc Thesis. University of Khartoum, Khartoum. Sudan.
Regional workshop on gum production, processing and marketing in Africa 22th ñ25th April 2002.
El Aichouni Mohamed (1995). Forestry Extension Objectives, Methods and Message. Project: Forestry Development in Sudan GCP/SUD/047/NET
Tony-Loftas, (). Forestry for Rural Communities. FAO. Rome
Arnold, J.E. (1991). Community Forestry (Ten Years in Review). FAO. Rome
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