Sudan - Context and Land Governance

 After decades of civil war between the central Government and a South Sudanese militant forces[2], in 2011 the people of South Sudan voted for independence, establishing a new state “South Sudan”. Consequently, Sudan lost land resources, and three quarters of its oil wealth. 

The root of the north-south conflict is the disparity in terms of access to state power and economic resources in the post-independence period[3]. 

Despite the end of the civil war in South Sudan, Sudan continues to experience internal conflicts, many of which started with issues related to the management of natural resources, and land[4]. 

Sudan topography is generally flat, with some mountains found in the west such as the Jebel Marra plateau, the Red Sea hills in the north-east, and the Nuba Mountains in the south. 

Sudan is a federal state composed of 18 states (wilayat, singular – wilayah).

Sudan's external debt was estimated at US$ 56.2 billion, of which about 85% was in arrears. In 2021 Sudan becomes eligible to begin receiving debt relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative[5]. 

After three decades of rule, on 11th April 2019 the Sudanese President was forced from power in a military coup. The President's removal comes amid a popular uprising against his rule[6].

A Constitutional Charter was signed in August 2019 with a transitional program guaranteeing women's rights, and enhancing the role of youth, and the establishment of a National Land Commission.

^{Cotton cultivated and collected in rain-fed part of Gadeer, Sudan, 2020 season, photo by Mohammed Abukashawa}

The total population of Sudan in 2020 is estimated at 41,138,904 persons[7]. The dominant language in Sudan is Arabic. Some ethnic groups use their own languages to communicate locally.

Economic inequality and poverty are widespread in Sudan. Wealth and services are largely concentrated in the capital Khartoum, while the rest of the country lives in poverty[8].

Conflict and displacement

The long civil war and drought waves of the mid-eighties of the twentieth century contributed to waves of displacement of large numbers of Sudanese towards the cities. The current number of Internally Displaced People (IDP’s) in Sudan is 2,730,000[9]. The UN estimates the refugees in 2020 as 1.0 million.

Most of these immigrants and IDP’s settled on the outskirts of cities, practicing low skills economic activities[10]. As a result of the 2020 conflict in Ethiopia another 70,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan.

IDP’s need some form of land tenure in order to return voluntarily . The root causes of conflict, mainly linked to land and natural resources, remain unresolved and consequently return has only been possible for smaller numbers of IDPs and Sudanese refugees[12].

Land legislation and regulations

Most of the constitutions promulgated in Sudan since independence include land related provisions. The land tenure system in Sudan is characterized by sharp dualism. Parallel to the formal legal system, communal traditional land is regulated by customary laws and institutions[13].

The British colonization of Sudan passed a series of land acts. Some of these still have partial influence, such as the Land Resettlement and Registration Act of 1925 (LRRA) that provides rules to determine land rights and to ensure land registration. The Land Acquisition Ordinance of 1930 also has partial influence; it gives the government the power to expropriate land for development and provides detailed procedures for land acquisition, value assessment and compensation.

The British colonial government created a new set of community leaders. Two separate and unequal land systems were created, namely, the registered system and the customary system[14]. 

The programme of land surveying and registration undertaken in the period 1898-1914, known as land ‘settlement’, was used to “build alliances with elites” and to clarify titles for investors[15].

The 1998 Constitution of Sudan, stipulates that citizens should have free choice of movement and settlement. The 2005 Interim Constitution established an independent National Land Commission. Darfur peace Agreement 2006 also established the Darfur Land Commission (DLC)[16].

The Constitutional Charter of 2019 recognizes issues of tribal lands (hawakir)[17]. 

The 1970 Unregistered Lands Act was a de facto nationalization of the land by the state.
In this act, customary land rights had no formal legitimacy or juridical status. All land that was not registered at the time of the act (90% of the country’s land) became government owned according to the terms of the 1925 (LRRA) Act. The Unregistered Land Act was implemented more forcefully in the rain fed regions of the country where people have no access to the registration system and the semi-mechanized farming had the greatest potential. 

Physical Planning and Land Disposal Act of 1994 - this act lays out the procedures and institutional responsibilities for physical planning. The 1994 Act assigned the States a legislative power and more control over the land. The Central Town Planning Committee was established in 1946, but the 1994 Act established the State Planning Committees in each state.

Investment Act of 1999 - this Act might have introduced contradictions in the legal and institutional framework regarding the devolution of powers, giving rise to conflicting sources of legitimacy regarding the legal entities that can have access to, and control over, land. Later the Investment Promotion Law of 2013 gave the authority of land allocation to the Investment Promotion Commission, while leaving land use planning to the state authorities.
 

The General Land Registrar
Although the executive land use management functions are assigned at the state level, the land registration itself is a federal-level function. Registry offices are established by virtue of a founding order issued by the Honourable Chief Justice of Sudan. The Registrar General established offices in all states and sometimes in localities according to the needs and the density of registered land.

The current land laws no longer keep pace with the dynamic economic, social and environmental changes[18]. Urban cadastral information is largely non-existent or in disarray. Most land transactions are informal and not registered.

Land tenure classifications

The complex mix of statutory and customary laws, with little  to no coordination between the two systems led to a non-uniform government policy on land tenure in Sudan. In some areas, land is simultaneously privately owned and considered government-owned property[19].

Land under the legal control of the National Land Registration Office, Ministry of Justice: State land Registered private ownership (freehold); Registered private possession and use (leasehold); Unregistered ownership by government agencies; Unregistered occupation and use of land, Abandoned land.

Due to the expansion of intensive agricultural activity and the overexploitation of pasture lands, there is a high rate of shrinkage of forest cover. Forest area is estimated at about 10.3% of the country's area. There is a lack of tenure security for the forest land.

Statutory land tenure
There are two main types of tenure within the statutory land tenure system in Sudan (registered freehold and registered leasehold). 

Freehold tenure was legal in Sudan prior to the 1970 Unregistered Land Act. Registered rights are mostly found in the River Nile provinces and Khartoum while people in other parts of Sudan, have been unable to access registered freehold rights[20]. 

The 1947 Town Land Regulation Act introduced three categories of land-use zoning and land subdivision regulation that is Grade I, II and III holding different plot size and lease periods, in addition to the pre-registration grade (Grade IV), which is found in villages with no records held in the registry. There are also other types of leases for commercial zones, investment land etc. 

Customary land tenure and community land rights
Most of the land in Sudan is held under customary tenure system, unmapped, and not demarcated[21].

The Native Administration in Sudan uses a strongly hierarchical approach for management, including of land, with three levels, the Sultan/Nazzir at the top, the Omda in the middle and the sheikh at the bottom. 

In the customary law land is considered to belong to the people; land remains with the tribe or clan and cannot usually be sold to outsiders; most land rights are use-rights, and rights to land may overlap[22].

In some parts of Sudan, especially rural areas, the term Dar (home of a tribe or clan) is used, and it consists of smaller areas called hakura. In some cases, the two terms are used interchangeably. Hakora is a land assigned historically by a chief of a tribe to a person, family, or a group of people for a specific land use against a set of agreements.

Land use trends

The majority of Sudan is classified as arid land, and more than one-third of the country is classified as desert. With the exception of a ribbon of settlement that corresponds to the banks of the Nile, northern Sudan is sparsely populated; sizeable areas of population are found around Khartoum, southeast between the Blue and White Nile Rivers, and South Darfur[24].

Sudan is characterized by a high diversity of habitats resulting from interactions of soil types, climate, topography, vegetation cover, and the prevalent human and animal population activities[25].

Sudan has become the fourth country in the world to destroy its forest wealth. The annual rate of deforestation increased from 0.7% to 2.2%[26].

In the last two decades, Sudan has become one of the first exporters of gold. This gold is extracted from remote areas in different states, which led to a dramatic change in land use and livelihood of artisanal miners, and included a massive land degradation and soil erosion. 

In 2016 FAO estimated the agricultural area of Sudan as 68186.16 (1000 ha), agriculture is the most important economic sector in Sudan, contributing to about a third of the country’s GDP and providing a livelihood to about two-thirds of the active population. 

The total area of the ​​irrigated schemes in Sudan is about 1.68 million hectares. The government still manages the major federal schemes, namely: New Halfa, Al-Rahad and Al-Suki, due to their large size[27]. In addition to Kenana and other Sugarcane production schemes.

Pastoral land in Sudan 
Sudan has the highest pastoralist percentage globally[28]. The pastoralists number in Sudan ranges between 2 million and 3.5 million. Several state legislation have been promulgated aimed at assigning rights of pastoralists to mobility over land[29].

Customary rangelands and seasonal migratory corridors that cross agricultural and human settlement areas are shrinking. Pastoralists’ livelihoods were severely disrupted by the drought of the 1980s. 

Land and food security in Sudan 
Sorghum, wheat, maize and millet are the main crops for human nutrition in Sudan. Farmers lack the security of tenure and control over land they cultivate, which resulted in a very low productivity of the land, leading to food insecurity in the country.

Land disputes and conflicts resolution
The steady return of refugees and IDPs is expected to exacerbate existing conflicts over land-use and place demands on local institutions that lack capacity to manage the numbers of people needing resettlement assistance[30].

At the local level, the Land Conflict Resolution Committees are, at least in theory, responsible for resolving land disputes. Customary authorities often participate in these committees, which are the local access points to the formal judicial system at the state and central level[31].

Gold mining also has become one of the most important sources of conflicts between the local communities and the artisanal miners who come from other regions and neighbouring countries as well. 

Native administration institutions are the most used tools for local land dispute resolution in Sudan. Customary law[32] is flexible and allows for changes to the terms of short-term loans to herders, but it generally protects grazing rights against enclosures or outright confiscation of land by farmers[33].

Urban tenure issues

^{Tuti bridge, Khartoum, Sudan photo by Christopher Michel,2017 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license}

Metropolitan Khartoum the capital and the largest city in Sudan; Khartoum is one of the oldest settlements in the country, it attracts migration from different regions in Sudan.

The fundamental structure of the current urban planning system was introduced with the Urban Planning and Land Management Act of 1986.

Although the population of Sudan has been growing at high rates, the urban population has been growing at much higher rates. Therefore, the proportion of urban population has always been on the rise. 

There are different types of informal settlements in urban areas called Ashwaey. These Ashwaey areas are located either in the urban area or on the urban fringes, and occupied customary land, planned government and; and privately owned land[34]. The main solution the government used for informal settlement in Sudan is to demolish and force evacuation, and then resettlement.

As a result of a large informal settlement upgrading program implemented in Greater Khartoum, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums dropped from about 60% in 1990 to less than 20% in 2014[35].

Urban land in the National Strategies and Policies
Several national strategies have been developed including urban planning components. However, there is no stand-alone national urban policy or national spatial planning strategy in place. The Comprehensive National Strategy (1992-2002) and the National Quarter-Century Strategy (2007-2031) was formulated to respond to urban development and housing issues[36]. 

The absence of national urban development strategies precluded coordination of state urban plans, and resulted in a lack of a comprehensive vision for land use and natural resource utilization.

Land investments and acquisitions

The investment environment in Sudan suffers from administrative weakness, lack of transparency and information, and unclear and conflicting policies.

Land-related investments confronted by challenges resulted from the weak state control over land. Investors are forced to negotiate (compensate) with local communities to secure the land for investment.

Since 2007, it is estimated that the Government has commercially leased out approximately 3.9 million hectares, in addition to the roughly 12.5 million hectares leased out by the government prior to 2005. Many of these lands went to local investors who are backed by foreign agencies[37].

Coupled with high rates of inflation[38], land in urban areas has been turned into a commodity and a buffer against inflation. The Central Bank of Sudan refrain banks from real estate financing[39].

There are large numbers of documents, payments, and procedures required for business operations that increase the opportunities to facilitate payments. In 2020, Sudan ranked 171 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.

Compulsory acquisition
Under the 2005 Constitution, private property cannot be expropriated except in accordance with law and for the public interest. Prompt and fair compensation must be paid. The Land Acquisition Act (1930) authorizes the state to take private property in the public interest, under terms consistent with the Seventh Constitutional Decree (1993) and the Civil Transactions Act (1994). 

The 1994 Act includes details on expropriation of land for public interest, including settlement; compensation modalities for expropriated land; disposal of government land through leases; and procedures for acquiring land leases. 

The Land Acquisition legislation that allows the State to compulsorily acquire land for “public purposes” has been utilized in some instances for the purposes of agricultural development projects[40].

Women’s land rights

Women are the major workforce in agricultural production in Sudan, even if men hold the customary tenure rights for houses and all the land.

The Sudanese constitutions give women equal rights to own land as men. According to the Civil Transaction Law of 1984, families, rather than individuals, should get the available registered residential leases wherever possible, which ensures that most leases are held by husband and wife jointly. 

But, since most of the land is unregistered and managed through the customary system women’s access to land rights is problematic and hampered by severe inequalities and violations, the local communities tend to grant men land and neglect women, given that men are responsible for sponsoring the family. However, with the many conflicts, and displacement, the number of families headed by women is constantly increasing[41]. The common customary tenure rights held by women are found in kitchen gardens and small farms attached to the house and associated with the house, called jobraka or najjadh.

Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Tenure (VGGT)

Sudan endorsed the VGGTs, however, there is little evidence that the principles have been incorporated into the country’s policies that relate to land issues.

The VGGT give support to the three priority areas of work for agriculture and FAO in the country, namely:

1. Zero Hunger: Healthy, Safe and Nutritious Food for All;
2. Climate Smart Resilient Agriculture and Sustainable Ecosystems including Forests; Fisheries, Livestock, Rangeland and Water Management;
3. Inclusive and Efficient Agriculture and Food Systems;

FAO Sudan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, proposed and developed workshops to further raise awareness on the  VGGT in Sudan. The participants of the workshops reflected a wide range of representation from government institutions, and local leaders.An inception and planning workshop was held in 2017 in South Darfur. A transversal project supported the workshop with a presentation on VGGT and Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa[42].

Timeline - milestones in land governance

1898-1914 - Programme of land surveying and registration including the Land Ordinance
Known as land ‘settlement’, clarified title in the new irrigation scheme at Gezira. Recognized and started registering the continuously cultivated lands in northern and central riverian Sudan as free-hold.

1925-1930 - Land Resettlement and Registration Act/ Ordinance, and The Land Acquisition Act
Title to land was classified into either freehold or lease holds ownership, which is individual rather than the traditional tribal ownership system.

Paved the way for government to acquire any “land subject to village or tribal rights” when required permanently or temporarily for any public purpose”

1956 - Sudan becomes independent
The Anglo-Egyptian ruled Sudan from 1898-1956

1968 - The Mechanized Farming Corporation (MFC) was created 
To promote and regulate investment in rainfed mechanised schemes.

1969-1971 - Coup organized by Soviet Union-backed communist party
A policy of nationalization adopted, the 1971 Unregistered Lands Act was promulgated as a de facto nationalization of the land by the state.

1991 - Adoption of the federal system
Sudan was divided into nine States “Welaya”, urban planning and land disposition became a joint authority between the federal and state level.

1989-1994 - National Salvation Revolution takes over in military coup
1994 Physical Planning and Land Disposal Act promulgated 

1998 - New constitution adopted
Article 23: Every citizen has the right of freedom of movement and residence in the country 

2011 - Independence of South Sudan 
South Sudan became a sovereign state, taking the majority of oil and forest land. 

2019 - popular uprising,  and military topples  President Bashir regime
Tribal lands was recognised in the  new Constitutional Charter of 2019

Where to go next?

The author’s suggestion for further reading

• (In Arabic) Historical development of the Hawakir system and management in Darfur. By Dr. Ibrahim Musa Mohammed, Darfur Land Commission, 2018.

This book sheds light on the Hawakir system which plays an important role on land tenure and use in Darfur. The book explains the human-land relationship and the integration between different components. The author also explores the relation between the pastoralists, their land and Hawakir, customary laws and regulations that secure Hawakir tenure, and the economical dimension of Hawakir. 

• (In Arabic) The legal framework the immovable property tenure in Sudan, Prof. Haj Adam Hassan El-Tahir, 2019

In addition to being a Judge in the Sudan Constitutional Court, the author served as a director general for the land department for several years.  The book describes land laws and regulations in Sudan. It included an analysis of Islamic law and the principles of Sharia law relating to land tenure and its reflection on Sudanese land laws. The author also analysed the local customs and practices related to land tenure in different parts of Sudan. The author urged the importance of fair compensation for the land acquisition, which "should only be expropriated for the public interest". The author called for the development of land law to provide fair compensation to those who were unable to register their land under the Land Resettlement and Registration Act of 1925.

References

[1] Central Intelligence Agency. (2021). "Africa: Sudan." The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sudan

[2] Anaya 1, 2 was formed in 1955-1972, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) continued from 1983 until the independence of South Sudan in 2011.

[3] Olika, T. (2008). Conflicts and conflict resolution in the Horn of Africa: toward the study of regional peace and security. Ethiopian Journal of the Social Sciences and Humanities, 6 (1-2), 1-24. https://landportal.org/library/resources/conflicts-and-conflict-resolution-horn-africa-toward-study-regional-peace-and

[4] International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). (2021). Country profiles-Sudan. https://www.ifad.org/en/web/operations/w/country/sudan  

[5] The International Monetary Fund (IMF). Press Releases. (2021). Sudan to Receive Debt Relief Under the HIPC Initiative. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/06/29/pr21199-sudan-to-receive-debt-relief-under-the-hipc-initiative

[6] CNN, S. E. S., Nima Elbagir and Yasir Abdullah. (n.d.). Sudan’s President Bashir forced out in military coup. CNN. Retrieved July 19, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/11/africa/sudan-unrest-intl/index.html

[7] Sudan Central Bureau of Statistics. (2020). Internal report.

[8] Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI). (2020). Sudan country report. From https://btiproject.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2020_SDN.pdf

[9] Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDMC. (2021). country profiles, Sudan. Retrieved July 15, 2021, from https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/sudan 

[10] Ati. H. A. and Al-Hassan. A. O. M. (2016). Arab Watch Report on Informal Employment-National Reports on Informal Labor -Sudan. Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND).     (168-171) https://www.annd.org/cd/arabwatch2016/pdf/english/17.pdf

[11] United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2020). Darfur land administration assessment: analysis and recommendations. https://landportal.org/library/resources/darfur-land-administration-report

[12] UN High Commission for Refugees. (2021). Initiative on Internal Displacement 2020 – 2021. https://reporting.unhcr.org

[13] Komey, G. (2009, May 10-12). Communal Land Rights, Identities and Conflicts in Sudan: The Nuba Question. MENA Land Forum Founding Conference. Cairo, Egypt. http://landpedia.org/landdoc/Land_Forum/KundaKumeyNubaQuestion.pdf

[14] United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2020). Darfur land administration assessment: analysis and recommendations. www.unhabitat.org

[15] Allen, T. (2017). The Purposes of Land Settlement in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898–1914: Drawing Paths through the Weeds. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 45(6), 894-922.

[16] USAID. (2021). land tenure and property rights profile - Sudan. From https://www.land-links.org/country-profile/sudan

[17] United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2020). Darfur land administration assessment: analysis and recommendations. https://landportal.org/library/resources/darfur-land-administration-report

[18] Majda Ahmed. (2018). References on National Land. Ministry of Environment and Urban Development.

[19] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2019). Promoting the provision of legitimate land tenure rights using VGGT in the Greater Darfur region of the Sudan. https://landportal.org/library/resources/promoting-provision-legitimate-land-tenure-rights-sudan-project

[20] United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2020). Darfur land administration assessment: analysis and recommendations. https://landportal.org/library/resources/darfur-land-administration-report

[21] Veit, P., & Reytar, K. (2015). LandMark: ProtectinCentral Intelligence Agency. (2021). "Africa: Sudan." The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sudan.g Indigenous and Community Lands by Making Them Visible. World resources institute. www.wri.org

[22] USAID. (2021). land tenure and property rights profile- Sudan. From https://www.land-links.org/country-profile/sudan.

[23] ibid

[24] Central Intelligence Agency. (2021). "Africa: Sudan." The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sudan

[25] International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (May 2021). Policy Study reports on Pastoralism as Conservation in the Horn of Africa, Pastoralism and Conservation in the Sudan. https://www.iucn.org/content/policy-study-reports-pastoralism-conservation-horn-africa

[26] ALhurra, Abdelbagi Elawad. Forest Degradation in Sudan. Alhurra. Retrieved on June 4, 2012. from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFExuzcMQWM 

[27] Sudan Economy gate. (2021). Sudan economy. http://www.sudaneconomy.net/sects/agr/project.htm

[28] Kandagor, D. R. (2005). Rethinking pastoralism and African development: A case study of the Horn of Africa. Proceedings from lecture, Egerton University, Njoro. 

[29] Egemi, O. (2008). Securing Pastoralism in East and West Africa: Protecting and Promoting Livestock Mobility. Sudan In-Depth Study. https://pubs.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/G03461.pdf

[30] USAID. (2021). land tenure and property rights profile- Sudan. From https://www.land-links.org/country-profile/sudan

[31] Ibid

[32] The main conflict resolution institutions in the customary system are:

Native Administration courts: deals with small and medium cases and has a limited ability to prescribe punishment and penalties. These courts are more accessible and are less- cost and quicker.

Joudiya : consists of elders respected by the community and the parties in conflict, and it is a system for mediation, remission and compensation.  

[33] Boudreaux, K. (1994). Property rights and resource conflict in Sudan. Realizing Property Rights, 68-72. https://www.globalprotectioncluster.org

[34] United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2020). Darfur land administration assessment: analysis and recommendations. www.unhabitat.org

[35] Government of Sudan. (2016). Sudan’s report for the United Nations’ Third Conference On Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III). https://landportal.org/library/resources/sudan%E2%80%99s-report-united-nations%E2%80%99-third-conference-housing-and-sustainable-urban.

[36] Government of Sudan. (2016). Sudan’s report for the United Nations’ Third Conference On Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III). https://landportal.org/library/resources/sudan%E2%80%99s-report-united-nations%E2%80%99-third-conference-housing-and-sustainable-urban.

[37] USAID. (2021). land tenure and property rights profile- Sudan. From https://www.land-links.org/country-profile/sudan

[38] Eltahir, N. (2021, July 18). Annual inflation rate rose to 412.75% in June, up from 379% in May, Sudan’s state news agency reported on Sunday. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/sudan-inflation-idUSL1N2OU0C6

[39] Ibid.

[40] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2019). Promoting the provision of legitimate land tenure rights using VGGT in the Greater Darfur region of the Sudan. https://landportal.org/library/resources/promoting-provision-legitimate-land-tenure-rights-sudan-project

[41] Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (2012). the Republic of Sudan: Country Gender Profile. https://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/thematic_issues/gender/background/c8h0vm0000anjqj6-att/sudan_2012.pdf

[42] Wordsworth Odame Larbi. (2018). The VGGT and the framework and guidelines on land policy in Africa (F&G) Versatile tools for improving tenure governance. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2018.