However, Sudan s rapidly expanding desert and the need for reforestation became an issue of worldwide concern in the wake of successive famines. Thousands died when their crops failed because of continued drought. And in the past decade international aid workers have increasingly realized that the involvement of rural women, who are the main users of forest products, is the key to replenishing the land. Professionals like Elgaili were first employed as community foresters in villages to organize tree-planting projects designed to halt desertification. But typically the women are not involved when it comes to important decisions.
Plantation forestry makes the big money.
Community forestry in which the women are involved may generate a lot of news coverage but few funds. Despite increasing insistence by UN and non-governmental organizations that women must be more involved in forestry programmes, Elgaili says that many Sudanese still dismiss these requirements as nonsense . But , she says, I think it will change, the same way that men in the university s forest administration have begun to change their minds about the contribution of women. It needs time.