Background In February 2009, Egis Bceom International signed a consultation contract with the national Sudanese Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MARF), and engaged a multi-disciplinary team of national and international experts to conduct a 'Study to Assess Factors Contributing to Conflict among Pastoralists, Agropastoralists, and Sedentary Farmers'. The study will be completed in December 2009. It forms part of and contributes to the Improving Livestock Production and Marketing (ILPM) project, funded by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF). The assessment study covers five states of central and west-central Sudan in which the project is implemented, namely: Sennar, Blue Nile, White Nile, North Kordofan and South Kordofan, where some eight million people live. The study is being implemented in two stages. Stage One is a desk study to describe the resources, their use and their management, document resource-based conflict and analyse the relevant policy and institutional arrangements and their contribution to conflict creation and resolution. In this phase, the study will primarily use secondary (existing) data. It is not intended that the study undertake extensive original data collection. During Stage Two and armed with the understanding from Stage One, a particular emphasis will be placed on case studies derived from interviews with individual farmers, pastoralists and communities. Through intensive community-level, field-based consultation and three institutional consultation workshops to be held in Sinja-Sennar State, El-Obeid-North Kordofan State and Khartoum. The study will interact with the entire range of stakeholders, consulting with them at all levels to seek a common understanding and agreement on baseline data in order to make proposals on the way forward in addressing the avoidance, resolution and mitigation of resource-based conflict. Study objectives The objectives of the study are to provide a more concrete understanding of the key constraints to rights-based access to land, as well as equitable sharing and sustainable management of natural resources. In particular, the study will address resource-based conflicts among pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and sedentary farmers. However, this must be addressed within the complex web of other factors that contribute to conflict. In any particular circumstance, competition over resources may or may not be the primary cause of the conflict, or could be merely an expression (symptom) of deeper-rooted issues. The study will attempt to focus on issues in which resource competition is the root cause of conflict. This study is also expected to increase knowledge on resource-based conflicts, particularly as it concerns pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and sedentary farmers, and to offer pathways to mitigation. Study context The current study takes place within the context of Sudan, especially rural Sudan where some 60 percent of the population find their livelihoods. Overall, some 80 percent of Sudan's population is said to be dependent on natural resources, mostly through the production, processing and marketing of crop and livestock products and other environmental products such as gum arabic. The context of the study includes the long history of conflict in Sudan, in addition to the legacy of that conflict. Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has had only eleven years of peace (1972-1983). In terms of the study area, the north-south conflict and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are of greatest concern, although the Nuba conflict and peace agreement are also relevant. The western part of the study area is also affected by 'spill over' from the ongoing war in Darfur. The study will also take place within the context of existing and escalating tensions in rural areas, as the interim period under the CPA between north and south draws to a close. The fear is that local disputes may escalate and destabilize the peace process. …