University Publications

Sudan is a typical of least developed countries in Africa in being highly vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. It has suffered a number of long and devastating droughts in the past decades, which have undermined food security and are strongly linked to human displacement and related conflicts. The vulnerability to drought is exacerbated by the tendency to maximize livestock herd sizes rather than quality, and by the lack of secure water sources such as deep boreholes that can be relied on during short dry spells. This paper is an attempt to highlight the acute problem of inefficient drought management. It relies on critical reviewing of the available literature and personal experience of the author. It is caused by man-made (anthropogenic), as well as, natural factors. Man – made factors can be confined to deforestation and its related activities. Other man- made factors can be summed up as follows: over-cropping, overgrazing, overexploitation of ground water. Natural factors can be represented in the dry periods alternated with wet periods. Drought and desertification has resulted in soil degradation. These factors led to an increase in the recurrence of natural disasters that are accompanied with loss of life and personal properties, manifestation of diseases, poverty and malnutrition as well as negative socioeconomic impacts and social unrest. Remedies can be drawn through strengthening early warning systems and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and reforestation programmes and using renewable energy sources which are abundant in Sudan.