The Sudan Handbook

thE intERnational PREsEnCE in sudan 277

The central state was a comparatively effective actor at this point

in Sudan’s post-colonial history. It was able to respond effectively to

such problems as drought (1972–74) and refugee influxes (1975–78)

without significant international assistance in a manner that is hard

to conceive today. There were functioning governing structures that

demonstrated a practical commitment to public welfare and a degree

of service provision. But the ability to manage the country’s internal

social crises proved to be a passing phase as the state was undone by

its own ambition.

Development Drive

The acceleration of Sudan’s development drive in the 1970s was

underpinned by ambitious state-directed initiatives to drive economic

productivity through generating export revenue, and an open door policy

to attract external investment. Sudan’s stated aim was to become the

breadbasket – initially of the world but then, more modestly, of the Middle

East. Agricultural development aimed to increase crop and livestock

production substantially by combining Sudanese natural resources

(land, labour and water), with western technology and finance from the

Middle East. As well as an expansion of mechanized agriculture, there

was increasing oil exploration led by the US company Chevron, which

struck oil in 1978. International agencies also ran a plethora of develop-

ment schemes during this period: USAID, for example, operated some

25 projects such as the Abyei Integrated Rural Development Program,

and the Blue Nile Agricultural Development Program.

The state’s development dreams crystallized into more ambitious

schemes, notably infrastructure projects intended to improve agricultural

exports. In 1979 work began on the Jonglei Canal, a 360 km-long waterway

designed to reduce transpiration from the White Nile by bypassing the

Sudd, thereby making more water available for irrigating export agricul-

ture in northern Sudan and Egypt. The project was abandoned in 1983

at the start of the second civil war in the south. Its completion would

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors have irrevocably changed the environment, affecting the livelihood of

(www.riftvalley.net).