EL OBEID, 22 May 2008 (IRIN) - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has called for a moratorium on the expansion of large mechanised farms in Sudan's central semi-arid regions, sounding a warning that it was a "future flashpoint" for conflict between the farmers and pastoralists.

Northern Sudan's huge commercial farms have been blamed for fuelling conflict, driving small-scale farmers off the land and into menial jobs, environmental degradation and human rights abuses.

However, in its Green Programme, launched in 2006, Sudan's Government of National Unity has called for the expansion of both rainfed and irrigated mechanised agriculture.

Andrew Morton, project coordinator of UNEP's Post Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, said the moratorium was necessary because the farms were "already degraded in many areas, and a historic and potential future flashpoint for conflict between the numerous agricultural and pastoralist groups".

The solution might be to make better use of the land. "This can happen through rehabilitation and increased investment in sustainability and yields through options such as improved seeds, improved techniques, agro-forestry, the appropriate use of fallow periods, and crop rotation," he suggested.

"On the governance side, a key need is improvements to the land tenure regime [both the legal framework and its application] to allow for all three groups [mechanised farmers, pastoralists and small-scale farmers] to co-exist and cooperate under the rule of law," said Morton.