Measuring drought and drought impacts in Red Sea Province: 7. Land tenure, agricultural labour, drought and food stress in the Gash, Gash Dai and Tokar agricultural areas. Roy Cole: Summary

Measuring drought and drought impacts in Red Sea Province

7. Land tenure, agricultural labour, drought and food stress in the Gash, Gash Dai and Tokar agricultural areas. Roy Cole

		Summary
		Introduction
		Production in the Gash and Tokar deltas
		The Gash Delta
		The Tokar Delta
		The schemes and food stress
		References
		Appendix 7.1: Agricultural districts of the Gash Delta.
		Appendix 7.2: Blocks (Muraba'a) of Tokar Delta.

Summary

Land tenure, agricultural labour, and the role of the Gash, Gash Die, and Tokar Deltas the Red Sea Province regional economy and in the food security strategies of the people of Red Sea Province is examined in the present paper. Results of the study show that sharecropping is a rational risk-minimising economic strategy that assures a food entitlement even in a highly variable environment such as that represented by the Tokar Delta and the Gash Dai. Where the environment is less variable, such as the Gash Delta, wage labour arrangements predominate. Both agricultural schemes were found to contribute significantly to the regional economy and to strengthen rather than weaken the ability of pastoralists to cope with drought through the provision of thousands of feddans of grazing, vast quantities of crop residues, cereals, and employment.