This story was originally published by InfoNile, a geo-journalism platform mapping data on and reporting about water issues in the Nile Basin.
For decades, the oil industry has backed Sudan’s economy. Oil was also a key issue in the decades-long civil war between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the South that ended in 2005 and led to the split of Sudan in 2011.
Both countries have a very poor record of keeping in-country oil exploration in check. Decades of oil drilling is linked to water, soil and air contamination often severely affecting the environment, people and animals.
Elzahraa Jadallah travelled to the villages around the oil fields in southwest Sudan, near the border with South Sudan, to investigate the impacts of pollution caused by the oil industry on the people and the environment.