The Root Causes of the Problems of the Seasonal Workers in the Gezira irrigation Project in Central

03:40 PM July, 31 2021

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Mahmoud A. Suleiman-UK
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The Root Causes of the Problems of the Seasonal Workers in the Gezira irrigation Project in Central Sudan
الأسباب الجذرية لمشاكل العمالة الموسمية في مشروع ري الجزيرة بالسودان الأوسط
Written By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
This article comes against the background of the arduous and chronic suffering of seasonal agricultural workers, as well as the Kanabi population, in the Gezira irrigated project in central Sudan between the White and Blue Niles since several eras. It is worth noting that this topic was covered by several pens, but the tragedy continued for several eras, but the worst period was the period of the rule of the Islamic ruling regime headed by Omar al-Bashir and his dictatorial entourage which provided support and the opportunity for the owners of farms called Hawasha to treat seasonal agricultural workers as slavery or serfdom as slaves of the land, which reminds us of the history of the Negroes in the United States of America in previous eras ;who worked in American plantations during the 19th century or In the early 19th century, most enslaved men and women worked on large agricultural plantations as house servants or field hands. Life for enslaved men and women was brutal; they were subject to repression, harsh punishments, and strict racial policing.

FURTHERMORE, the topic of my article is also captures the themes in the book “The Jango Stakes of the Earth by the Sudanese Novelist Abdul Aziz Baraa Sakin.
THE JUNGO Stakes of the Earth A Novel by Abdel Aziz Baraka Sakin Translated from the Arabic by Adil Babikir
الجونغو رواية (رواية) لعبد العزيز بركة ساكن ، ترجمه من العربية عادل بابكر

https://africaworldpressbooks.com/the-jungo-stakes-of-the-ea...bic-by-adil-babikir/
Furthermore, the aim of the Colonial British Empire in establishing the Gezira Agricultural Scheme was beyond the expectations of the workers in the Project. In Fact, it was nothing but a Colonial Moral Economy and the Discipline of Development of the Gezira Scheme and Modern Sudan.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227584982_Colonial_Moral_Economy_and_the_Discipline_of_Development_The_Gezira_Scheme_and_Modern_Sudanhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/227584982_Colonial_...eme_and_Modern_Sudan
The root causes of the problems of the workers in the irrigated Gezira Project in Sudan, started as a result of the injustice and persecution inflicted on them by the management of the project, as well as the racism stemming from the owners of the Farms. Farmers consider agricultural workers inferior in terms of their ethnic roots as slaves of African descent, while they consider themselves to be ethnically Arab, despite their dark skin and black African faces - and here one would apologize for the use of rude words.
The word 'Kombo' in the Gezira irrigated project in central Sudan between the Blue and White Niles is derived from the English word Camp, which has been translated transliterally as a temporary encampment.

Al Rakoba newspaper presents Al Gezira Project (Land and Man, Prosperity and Collapse) as follows: Al Gezira Project (Land and Man Prosperity and Collapse) By the farmer / Ibrahim Ishaq Omar Al-Ansari. He said Talking about the Gezira project from its inception as an experimental farm in 1911 until the completion of its establishment and declaration as an integrated project with its departments, divisions and infrastructure in the first quarter of the last century (1925 AD) and passing through all the stages of vertical and horizontal expansion that the project went through until the moment of writing this article may require a series of articles, and even a number of books and volumes, based on the motives and objectives of establishing the project in time and place, where the history and geography of the project, decades and years of its successes and prosperity, and the reasons for its decline and deterioration, up to the complete collapse curve, which reached a point that is difficult if not impossible to restore in the worst case to a point prior to the issuance of the Gezira. The Project Law of (2005 AD) unless the defense and struggle of those who want to save the project and the interest of Sudan accelerate to put pressure on those who control rooms and centers of industry and decision-making at the central level, and work to force those holding on to the joints of power and formulate economic policies to extract decisive presidential decisions to stop the policies of destruction and sabotage conspiracies being hatched against the project and its people, and to get them to establish a committee or commission to develop plans and strategies for reform and implementation. That was the comprehensive rise of this huge giant project, which were a safety valve and a source of pride for all the Sudanese and the Arab and African countries before the advent of the corrupt so-called National Salvation Government (NSG).
And the fact that the Gezira project is in need of definition for the Sudanese people in general and even for many peoples of different countries of the world, many of the Sudanese people, especially the common people among them who reside in other regions and states of Sudan, their knowledge may be modest about the Gezira project and its successes and problems throughout its journey that began More than eighty (90) years ago, and a lot of information and facts about the project and its people may have been absent from them, what happened to the conditions of agriculture in the project, and the economic, living and social conditions that the residents of the island project live in today, and in this article I will try hard to put before the honorable reader some facts about The past of the project and its current conditions and the factors, threats and dangers that may lead to its collapse and demise if the situation continues in this accelerating manner towards the abyss, and we possess these facts abstract from the past and present of the project to the Sudanese people in all its regions, directions and categories to share with the people of the island the severity of the crisis of their project and the severity of their plight, concerns and problems Their aspirations and their fleeting hopes to restore the project to its first course and its growing vital role, and to work to support them Advocating for their just causes to extract their indigestible rights, meet their legitimate demands, support and advance their serious efforts to save and reform the project, based on the nationalism of the Gezira project, which has been the backbone of the Sudanese economy since its inception and until recent years through its vital role in providing food security and contributing to economic construction and development in all its forms and fields. It provided the public treasury with hard currencies from the export operations of agricultural products, as it continued to contribute about 65% of the country's production and achieved an economic balance by improving the balance of payments by increasing exports and replacing imports, and reviving the Sudanese economy by moving its revenue streams, both productive, commercial and investment.
By virtue of the fact that I am a farmer, the son of a farmer, the owner of a land, and the owner of two Hawasha (Gather Hawash collection) Number (511), the fifth of the Hawasha, in a harsh canal, the new office, the Mansi Department, the extension of the transports, the Al-Gezira Agricultural Project, and I own (120) acres of the total ownership of the family’s area (1200) ) feddans in the agricultural rain-fed Al-Manaqil plateau project (Al-Sanqour/Al-Khikha square), which we hope to complete the excavation of the Greater Kenana Canal, which is being erected from the Sennar reservoir to connect it to the stream irrigation system for the Al-Jazeera and Al-Manaqil project, and by virtue of my membership in the Water Users Association in a harsh canal in the Al-Jazeera project. The Gezira Project (2005 AD - 2006 AD), we have lived and coexisted with years of success and prosperity of the project and years of its decline, setback, deterioration and gradual collapse, and we followed closely and with great concern, regret and great injustice the course of the sabotage scheme and policies of destruction that affected the project and its people, and we have irrefutable evidence that clearly confirms the conspiracies of liquidation and theft. And the organized looting of the project’s assets and property, and reveals the reality and dimensions of the premeditated intention of the criminal scheme to destroy the project, impoverishment, humiliation, displacement and displacement of its person to make the project and human A soft morsel easy to chew and eat between the jaws of privatization and parasitic capitalism, which began to reap the fruits of its monopolistic policies day after day, leaving behind it millions of hungry and poor farmers and agricultural workers and handing over their project that they founded with the sweat of their money and the sweat of their foreheads to multinational corporations that will make them and use their production machines as servants. If they were owners, workers and partners, today we witness with our own eyes the episodes of the tragic series of the gradual collapse of the great giant island project, which began to crumble little by little, and everyone became a spectator and our hearts beat with pain and bitterness, and our tears flowed with sadness and heartbreak over the situation and the fate of the project, so no one is able to live or move. He moves a finger towards the government's tampering with the project and the capabilities and wealth of the island's citizens, as the Salvation System and the corrupt and corrupt government of the National Congress Party plans what it sees and implements what it wants whenever and however it wants. On the coals, we are the victims of the lame, lame privatization policies of the regime Save without taking into account the specificity of strategic vital projects in the fragile structure of the Sudanese economy, and the proverb says (no one saw like one who heard), through this article I would like to give the Sudanese people in general some facts about their national project and their real support in times of hardship and distress, which benefited and benefited From him, all the Sudanese people in their various regions, regions and groups, where everyone stood as a witness and confirming that the Gezira project contributed in the long term with more than 45% of the total exports before entering oil, and the institutions of the vital sectors of the Sudanese state were built on its shoulders, and the project still possesses the ingredients, opportunities and potentials Which qualifies him to return to his first career and achieve self-sufficiency in food and clothing for all the people of Sudan, and export the surplus of agricultural and animal production to bring in hard currencies to fill the deficit experienced by the state treasury, if the current government sets agricultural policies based on solid scientific foundations and the latest and latest technology In the field of agriculture, away from malicious politics and dirty practices that are motivated by narrow partisan and factional interests and excessive personal ambitions that dominate On the mentality, policies, and orientations of the symbols and leaders of the ruling National Congress Party in their dealing with the problems and crises of the island project and with the issues, rights, demands and aspirations of the island’s citizens.
The Gezira Agricultural Project (land / place)
If we want to talk about the geography and history of the Al-Jazirah project, we necessarily talk about the geography and history of the Jazira state and the Jazira region first, so that the Jazirah project is part of the Jazirah state, and the Jazirah state is part of the Jazirah area (the Jazira area, the Jazira state, the Jazira project), so the Jazirah area historically It means the flat land located between the two Niles (the Blue and the White) in the muddy plain that extends in the form of a triangle and an arrow from the middle of the south of the two Niles to the confluence of the two Niles (Al-Muqrin) at the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. Previously it was known as Sennar Island as well as Khartoum Island, including Tuti Island at the confluence of Sudan The two Niles and the beginning of the course of the Nile River heading north and passing through Egypt to flow into the Mediterranean, while the current state of the island extends from the Sennar region on the Blue Nile to the south of Khartoum, which is the area known for its administrative/political geographical boundaries drawn by the decision of the state division of the regions of Sudan during the era of the regime and the Salvation Government that It issued the fourth constitutional decree of 1991 AD establishing the federal government, according to which the laws of regional government were abolished, as the state of the island consists of (7) localities and (40) (An administrative unit according to the last administrative division, and its capital is the city of Wad Madani, where the headquarters of the Gezira / Barakat project management headquarters is located, and a number of factories, companies and service institutions related to the project. The city of Wad Madani is the second largest city in Sudan after the capital, Khartoum, and is located in the heart of the Gezira project, and acquired its social, political, cultural and artistic luster with its unique social structure and the distinguished role of its sons in political work and in the world of art and cultural creativity. If the city of Wad Madani was present and the beacon of Al-Jazirah state, the Gezira project is the spirit of Al-Jazirah state, and Al-Jazirah state acquired its importance and economic value by distinguishing its vital strategic location In the geographic map of Sudan and its location in the middle of many states and major cities and its proximity to the national capital, Khartoum, the state of Gezira is rich in its enormous human and natural resources and infrastructure, in addition to its distinction by the presence of the two largest national agricultural projects in Sudan within its area (the Gezira Project, the Al-Rahad Agricultural Project, which More than 62% of its area is located within the state of the island) in addition to the Al-Junaid sugar project and the projects of the meters, Nile projects, cliffs, Sundus agricultural project, and Al-Manaqil plateau project, which will be irrigated smoothly through the Kenana Grand Canal, which is being dug and split from the Sennar reservoir to be among the flow-irrigation projects and become a real addition to the Gezira project, which is the largest irrigated agricultural project in the world irrigated by the irrigation system It flows from the Sennar Reservoir on the Blue Nile, where it is irrigated by a 323 km canal from Sennar to the outskirts of Khartoum. It is known as Al-Jazira Canal and Al-Manaqil Canal, which are two main canals and (11) Major Canal and hundreds of subsidiary canals that connect and provide water through Abu 20s and streams to irrigate fields and farms. The largest agricultural project in Sudan, Africa and the world, with one management and one flow irrigation system, an area of ​​2 million and 200 thousand acres divided into (18) sections and (114) inspections (inspections / offices) connected to a network and railway lines with a length of (1300) km The rail network of the Gezira project is the largest and longest transport network in Africa. The Gezira region is characterized by its flat land free from natural obstacles such as mountains, plateaus, hills and forests, and from obstacles and rugged terrain such as valleys, creeks and cliffs. rocks and sand dunes, all these factors and others have helped in the possibility of establishing this large number of agricultural projects, the construction of a dam, a reservoir, water channels for flow irrigation, the construction of a network of railways, roads, bridges, bridges, etc., and the availability of water, the fertility of its soil, its moderate climate and rainfall in appropriate quantities during the season. Autumn, and the availability of labor force all these factors and elements and others helped, prepared and enabled the cultivation of a number of important agricultural crops, chiefly cotton, wheat, peanuts, corn, sunflower, fodder, vegetables, some fruits and other cash and food crops, and also the project was producing rice before it stopped due to climatic conditions. It also helped in raising animals (sheep, goats, cows, and camels) for local consumption and export, as the Gezira project continued to produce 70% of the total cotton production, 65% of the total wheat production, 32% of the total production of peanuts, and 12% of the corn production, according to reports. According to the statements of the Alliance of Al-Jazeera and Al-Manaqil farmers, he accepted the policy of economic liberalization and privatization and the issuance of the draft law of the Gezira for the year 2005 AD, the Gezira and Transport Project consisted of Gezira railways with a length of 1,300 km, trains, train maintenance workshops, and a complete technical, professional and administrative administration, and the Gezira Railways Presidency, which was superior in its capabilities to the Sudan Railways Presidency with Atbara several equipment. And agricultural engineering with its machines, excavators, tractors, loaders, heavy and light equipment, a fleet of cars more than twice the cars owned by the Government of Sudan, homes for workers and employees and companies of officials, and these buildings number 2,500 houses and two buildings in Port Sudan and their annexes in an area of ​​300 acres, and a building in London in addition to an office in Lancashire, Britain, And the number of 14 cotton gins in Marangan, Al-Hasaheisa and Al-Baqir, the seed multiplication department, the plant protection department, there are warehouses and lofty stores, a wireless communication network and shares in a number of banks and companies (Cotton Company, the Agricultural Bank), in addition to the Sennar Dam and Reservoir, which was built in the year (1925) which is one of the project assets, and the project's assets and infrastructure are estimated at more than 60 billion US dollars.
The main objectives of the establishment of the Gezira Project were the following: -
* Cultivation of export crops, such as cotton and sunflower.
* Transformation of the area from traditional agriculture to modern.
* Raising the standard of living and services by accommodating 15,000 farmers, and providing them with housing, health and educational services.
* Achieving agricultural integration by introducing animals into the agricultural cycle,
* Expanding the cultivation of vegetables and fruits for local consumption and export.
* Exploiting Sudan's share of the Nile water. (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
However, as a result of the fluctuation of agricultural policies due to the political instability in the country in relation to the succession of regimes and governments, which had a severe negative impact on the progress of the Gezira project and the transfers and the failure to complete the achievement of its set goals and desired goals, and even the failure to maintain the level of successes, prosperity and gains that it achieved in its first decades as a result of instability The financial, administrative, organizational and marketing policies, which led to the deterioration of the infrastructure of the project and the decline and deterioration of its production process and its tangible and acclaimed role in the gross domestic product.
Al Jazeera Project (Human/Population)
To talk and get acquainted with the residents of the Al-Jazirah project at the present time, we must read the stages and contexts of the historical development of the emergence of the Al-Jazirah region in terms of time, place and people (geographical and demographic), based on the testimonies of historians and researchers and with reference to history books and references that dealt with the history of the Al-Jazeera region through all historical eras (the ancient We find that the Gezira region (Mesopotamia / the two Niles .. the Blue Nile and the White Nile) was part of the Kingdom of Kush, then part of the Christian Kingdom of Alwa (the Old and Middle Sudan) and then part of the Blue Sultanate / Kingdom The Funj/Islamic Sultanate of Sennar, which was established after the Arabs and Islam entered Sudan, then it was part of the Blue Nile Directorate and the Directorate of Gezira, then part of the Central Region, then part of it became the state of the island (modern and contemporary Sudan). (modern, contemporary) inhabited, settled, and lived in the Al-Jazirah region. Population groups varied and varied in race, religion, language, dialect and culture. With the fall of the Kingdom of Alwa, the rule of Al-Anj, and the rise and fall of the Blue Sultanate in Sennar, it crept like Many of the tribes of the Funj / Al-Anj to the south / south of the Blue Nile, and a number of Arab tribes spread on the banks of the Blue and White Nile in the north, and the Gezira area in the middle of the two Niles was almost empty of population, that is, in the period before the establishment of the Gezira project, the Gezira area was classified as relatively low The number of population and population density, with the presence of small villages scattered on the two banks of the two Niles, and it decreases as you go to the middle of the island. The establishment of the Al-Jazeera agricultural project in the twenties of the last century had a great impact in attracting and emigrating and many people flocked to the island area, where people came to it individually and in groups from different regions and destinations And regions, cities, rural areas and villages of Sudan (northern, central, eastern and western Sudan) and with their various tribes, groups, professions and trades (farmers, agricultural workers, employees, workers, merchants, shepherds...etc), as many tribes and families that used to live in central Sudan on both banks of the Blue Nile From Sennar in the south to Khartoum in the north, and on the Blue Nile from Kosti in the south to Khartoum in the north, it has spread, inhabited, and settled in the villages and cities of the Gezira project, and that many of them work as farmers and own footholds, and some of them are farm workers Appointed, merchants and shepherds, some of whom are employees and workers in government departments and institutions and in the departments of other agricultural projects, while most of the arrivals and arrivals to the project from the Khartoum region and northern Sudan and from some regions, states, cities and rural Sudan work as employees and workers in the departments of units and departments of the project (the Presidency of Project Management Civil / Barakat, departments, inspections/offices, barrages, railways, factories, gins, …..etc), and that many of those coming from western Sudan work as agricultural laborers and that a significant number of them own agricultural lands/haws, and some of them lived and settled in the cities of the state and project of the island And they work in business and commercial activities, in companies, factories, and professional and other crafts, and some of them work as employees and workers in government departments and institutions and in the departments of other agricultural projects. A significant number of them live in villages shared with other population groups, and some of them live in separate villages of their own, and some of them live in gatherings. Population and large and medium-sized villages, some of which are small, which they call (Kanabi / plural kombu), so these population groups became of different races, tribes and Because of their year, their destinations and their groups who inhabit the villages and cities of the state and the island project, they have become a unique social and cultural fabric called (the people of the island / the people of the island / the people of the island / the community of the island / the citizens of the island), and each of them has become complementary to the other (farmers, agricultural workers, employees and workers, Shepherds, merchants... And each of them gives meaning and value to the existence of the other. They are governed by the foundations of good neighborliness, housing, the common home, the foundations and values ​​of peaceful coexistence and social communication between them, and common interests have become between them and they exchange material and moral benefits, so they have common issues, concerns and aspirations, and they are united by one past and present, united by a single destiny and worrying about their plight. The one represented in the decline and deterioration of their project, which had the greatest impact on the strategic and economic importance of Sudan for several decades, so their roles, contributions and tasks were integrated in the success, prosperity, continuity and survival of the project for many years. People, and the prosperity of its cities, urban centers and villages populated with commercial life and agricultural and pastoral activity, as most of the residents of the island project combine agriculture, livestock breeding and commercial activities related to agricultural and animal production, and the population of the island is estimated to be more than three 3 million people, or 3,796,000 people. (According to the latest statement on the website of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers), and the statistics indicate that: That 80.4% of the population resides in the countryside and 19.1% resides in urban (cities). In the past and throughout the long and transitional history of the Jazira region, there was overlap, interaction and mixing between families from the Funj tribes and many immigrants and arrivals from the Muslim Arabs, as many Arab families mixed The immigrant with a large number of families of the region’s tribes (the local African population) and as a result of the overlap, contiguousness, friction and communication between these population groups, Islam and the Arabic language spread in the blue Sultanate (Fung Kingdom, Sennar Sultanate, Sinnar State), which was adjacent to Ethiopia from the eastern side and from the northern side Diya..
EDWARD EVERETT the American politician, pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts, served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State has been quoted as saying: “Agriculture seems to be the first pursuit of civilized man. It enables him to escape from the life of the savage and wandering shepherd, into that of social man, gathered into fixed communities and surrounding himself with the comforts and blessings of neighborhood, country, and home. It is agriculture alone, that fixes men in stationary dwellings, in villages, in towns, and cities, and enables the work of civilizations, in all its branches, to go on”.
http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/agriculture_quotes.htmlhttp://www.notable-quotes.com/a/agriculture_quotes.html
https://www.google.com/search؟q=edward+everettandrlz=1C1OKWM_e...ceid=chromeandie=UTF-8

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

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