Too Much Water under the Bridge: Internationalization of the Sudan—South Sudan Border and Local Demands for Its Regulation

Abstract

National borders in Africa are often presented as arbitrary and problematic impositions of European colonial powers. Although the new international border between the Republic of Sudan (Sudan) and South Sudan is not one of those, it originated during the colonial government of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (1899–1956) and it continues to be contested politically and administratively. The Sudan—South Sudan borderland is an ecological transitional zone where the majority of people live within a semi-subsistent economy often combining cattle-keeping, farming, and fishing. Historically, people with cattle have moved southward during the dry season in search of green pasture and water, and northward during the rainy season to escape tsetse flies and local floods. Although statistics are poor, this borderland is assumed to be densely populated and highly productive in terms of cattle and farming products as well as rich in oil and minerals.

1. The author acknowledges with gratitude research funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and assistance in the field from the friendly staff of the Carter Center and from Norwegian People’s Aid. The impetus to write this chapter came from the invitation to present a paper at the ABORNE Sudan border conference in Durham, UK, in April 2011. A research fellowship from the Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Durham, has provided the opportunity to finalize the chapter. A revised version was presented at the 9th International Sudan Studies Conference in Bonn in July 2012. Special thanks go to Dr Alfred Lokuji for being an excellent companion in the field. Dr Martin Daly, Dr Cherry Leonardi, Mr Kjetil Daatland, conference participants, the reviewer, and the volume editors provided much appreciated comments to earlier versions of the chapter.