Since gaining independence, Sudan has endured significant and persistent social, economic, and political conflict. In the 70 years since Sudan’s independence, large-scale internal conflict has occurred in all but 11 of those years. This has profoundly affected livelihoods and fractured relationships between people and communities as successive political and military leaders have routinely sought to militarise vulnerable populations to entrench their power and avoid reform. The outbreak of the war in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is a continuation of Sudan’s history of militarised actors violently competing for political and economic power, while seeking to mobilise and pit communities against one another.
Sudan’s history of violence and elite predation has led people and communities to adopt various strategies for survival and resistance. One such approach has been building interdependent relationships with neighbouring groups and communities to support livelihoods and mitigate the negative consequences of violent conflict. Humanitarian aid, from both Sudanese and external organisations, has also played a role in supporting people under stress. As of May 2025, with no end of the SAF-RSF conflict in sight, the combined practices of interdependence, mutual aid, and external support, remain essential in strengthening community resilience and protection.
What is interdependence?
In Sudan, interdependence is the reality or the perception that an individual’s or a group’s well-being is interlinked with that of another individual or group. In practice, interdependence is carried out through networks of collaborative relationships such that people and communities become mutually dependent on each other to meet certain needs. This in turn fosters peaceful coexistence as the benefits derived from interdependence, especially in meeting basic livelihood needs, incentivises people to address grievances and contribute to peace.
There are numerous factors that support or hinder interdependence. One critical impediment is the pressure exerted by outside actors, especially those at the national level, to push communities toward confrontation rather than collaboration. The current warring parties in Sudan have exploited this approach, which poses an acute threat to livelihoods, wellbeing, and the country’s social fabric. Disruptive actions by one side, such as undertaking cattle raiding or supporting a government military campaign, also undermine interdependence as they erode trust and create grievances. On the other hand, factors that support interdependence include past collaboration between communities, trusted and effective local leadership, co-created, co-owned and mutually beneficial partnerships, and support from experienced and skilled civil society actors.
What does interdependence look like?
There is a long history of mutual dependence, collaboration and livelihood sharing, all key aspects of interdependence, in Sudan. For instance, the concept of nafir, which originated in rural Sudan as a means of organising communal labour for collective tasks, has evolved in recent decades to mobilise support to meet the emergency needs of urban populations. Farmers and pastoralists also have a history of livelihood sharing: historically, in many parts of rural Sudan, farmers would entrust their cattle to pastoralists migrating for the dry season, who upon returning fattened cows were given a share of the farming produce.
A more specific example can be found in the communal responses to decades of conflict in South and West Kordofan. The conflict, which took place from 1983-2005 and reignited after 2011, unfolded in a context of heightened communal tensions over access to land and its resources. The former National Congress Party (NCP) regime sought to militarise tensions between Misseriya and Nuba communities, hoping that the former would support its counter-insurgency against the Nuba supported SPLM/A rebellion. Despite intense NCP efforts, not all Misseriya supported Khartoum’s counter-insurgency as some local leaders recognised that their livelihoods and wellbeing depended on maintaining some level of interdependence with Nuba communities. While tensions remained, efforts to establish interdependence paved the way for increased collaboration after the NCP regime’s demise in 2019. Freed from state interference, communities were able to further pursue relationships on their own terms. During the transition period, more communities reached agreements on land and resource use, building on past collaboration to increasingly formalise joint committees to oversee land-use and other agreements, and established more shared markets to facilitate inter-community trade.
In the context of the ongoing SAF-RSF conflict, which has brought intense violence, not only to rural areas, but also to Sudan’s largest cities, the concept of interdependence has become intertwined with mutual aid as communities have shared food and livelihoods amid acute crisis. Following the outbreak of fighting, local civil society actors established mutual aid centres, called Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), to help address the needs of those affected by the conflict, whether they remained in their home areas or were displaced by the conflict. To support relationship building between people, volunteers intentionally created opportunities for residents to share meals with displaced individuals, thereby fostering engagement and solidarity. Displaced traders used their commercial networks to sustain market supply, easing tensions around a potential scarcity of goods. Professionals also put their skills to use in new ways, such as displaced medical workers who rehabilitated and ran a health clinic in Wad Medani to serve the local population. These practices have reinforced interdependence, helping communities manage urgent needs and address grievances stemming from displacement or conflict.
What is the link between interdependence and humanitarian aid?
The degree to which interdependence and peaceful coexistence are maintained plays an important role in reducing the scale and scope of violence, and consequently the humanitarian needs that stems from it. It also builds local strengths for managing conflict and needs in a meaningful and durable way. As the SAF-RSF conflict continues, without showing signs of stopping, the Sudanese people’s ability to pursue interdependence and mutual aid will go a long way in mitigating the worst effects of the conflict, both in the immediate and longer terms. As such, those seeking to provide humanitarian aid in Sudan can support communities by designing interventions that complement and strengthen interdependence networks as part of broader and conflict sensitive efforts. Specifically, they should:
It is critical that humanitarian actors be aware that their efforts can support or, without the proper understanding and adaptation, hinder interdependence. This can in turn undermine humanitarian aims as well as communal relationships. For instance, since interdependence can strengthen livelihoods, humanitarian aid that supports it would likely yield amplified results. As such, a livelihood project that addresses the complementary needs of neighbouring farming and pastoralist communities can boost interdependence in a manner that supports long-term sustained livelihoods. Conversely, if only one community’s needs are prioritised, such as by providing agricultural support that may increase farming and block grazing access, this can create an imbalance in the relationship and lead to tensions or conflict
As such, international aid actors should deliver assistance that strengthens interdependence and sustains social relationships. In practice, this means building on and supporting existing interdependence systems and initiatives, and addressing communities’ inter-related needs. This is critical to meet local needs and counter-balance the risk of further violence and fragmentation across Sudan. In this way, aid organisations can support co-existence and local efforts to sustain and build peaceful relationships.