The economic and environmental factors of water in arid regions: Study of the rural water use in Northern Darfur Region, Sudan

We develop hypothetical policy scenarios in this part of the paper which are simulated using a product-by-industry economic-ecological model to investigate their impacts on water and other ecological commodities. Results are expected to contribute to the establishment of alternative policy options for water resources management and sustainable economic development in the area. The impact of economic development on the environment is now a global issue and cannot be ignored. However, the extent of these impacts at local and regional levels in less developed countries (LDCs) is not fully understood. Unlike the rich industrialized countries where development is large-scale and the impacts associated with immense consumption of fossil fuels are basically in the form of environmental pollution, development in the LDCs is rather at a small-scale and the nature of impacts is often in the form of severe resource depletion (World Bank, 1992; Lesser, et al., 1997). Therefore, the challenge of sustainable development in these poor countries is an urgent matter of concern (WRI, 1992). This concern can be investigated from two perspectives, economic development and environmental degradation.