A conflict of deep ethnic roots and tribal culture is what motivates and continues to fuel the fire in the war in Darfur. Owing to the Sudan landscape of arid lands, the Darfur region is running low on water resources. Resources are low, while population is climbing higher than the resources could provide, thus conflict over the resources are but expected.

The cause of the war in Darfur is largely ethnic, due to the accusations of several African insurgent groups who believe that the Sudanese government favor Arab groups over non-Arab groups. These insurgents, the JEM and the SLA, believe that the Sudanese government allow the Arab groups to have more control and more of the share of the scarce resources. They believe that the Arabs are getting better representation at the higher levels of the Sudanese government and administration.

Both African insurgent groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLA), aim for a fair distribution of resources. While being of different histories, ideologies, and leanings, these two co-operate and fight against the Sudanese government and the Arab militia, Janjaweed. Despite fighting for the same cause, the two movements still manage to retain distinct identities which causes some tensions between the two.