Monday, April 28, 2014


The Fur people, make a living mostly through farming and herding. In North Darfur, it is Semi-Desert and prone to drought. It is the domain of the Abbala camel herders, who comprise both Arab and non-Arab. There is some household-based millet cultivation on the sandy qoz soils. In West Darfur it is dominated by the central Jebel Marra massif from where Darfur's great seasonal rivers run. It is the most fertile land and is inhabited largely by non-Arab farming communities (Fur and Masalit) who grow millet, and keep a few animals. Terracing and some perennial streams enable simple irrigation systems known as shadouf. As well as millet and sorghum, the people of Jebel Marra cultivate, among other things, inter alia, citrus, onions, chillies and okra, small quantities of wheat and also groundnuts. In South Darfur home to the Baggara, or cattle people. Most numerous among them, the southern Rizeigat. More reliable rains permit larger and more stable millet yields, and more varied crops.