Abstract:
Many African countries alike, Sudan has experienced a range of resource-based conflicts
that often result in fierce competition between different clans or groups, in ethnic fighting or
even in civil war. Although considerable research in the field of the Sudanese internal
conflicts has concentrated on the conflict in Darfur and the Sudanese North-South conflict,
rather less attention has been paid to the conflict in Eastern Sudan. Consequently this
research aimed to explore the conflict in Eastern Sudan more in depth. More precisely, the
focus of this research project has been narrowed down to Gedarif State and within the
margins and the context of Gedarif State this research focused on land conflicts and the
influence of group identity and the state.
The central aim of this research project, ‘to explore how group identity and the
Sudanese state influence the land conflicts in Gedarif State and how these factors interact on
a local level’, has been completed by carrying out a literature study. This study shows that
the relation between land, group identity, the state and conflict is complex. In addition, it was
found that the scarcity of land, created by the state and nature, combined with the unequal
access and ownerships rights granted by the state threaten the survival and group identities
of the Gedarif State people. As a result they clash in order to gain access to, and control
over, land.
