In a study of Sudanese agricultural production, Jay O’Brien (1986) details how ethnic identities were formed as different groups of people were incorporated into the work force. Their roles in...

In a study of Sudanese agricultural production, Jay O’Brien (1986) details how ethnic identities were formed as different groups of people were incorporated into the work force. Their roles in production became linked to their ethnic identity. In the early 1900s, farmers and pastoralists began to work on plantations that produced cotton for export. These plantations were in what came to be known as the Gezira Scheme, a large area of irrigated fields. As elsewhere in the British Empire, indigenous people had to pay taxes in cash, but their sources for obtaining money were limited because they had few markets for their subsistence crops, and the importation of cheap manufactured goods undermined home craft production.