FAO’s programmes in Sudan are helping hundreds of thousands of farmers, herders and fishers protect, rebuild and improve their livelihoods. FAO is implementing a diversified portfolio of relief and rehabilitation projects in the country covering crop and livestock production, animal health, fisheries, water harvesting, and support to agro-processing and rural artisans. Direct relief operations, such as the distribution of inputs to vulnerable groups, including returnees, augment more sustainable interventions, such as training, setting up much needed agricultural services, capacity building and rehabilitation of small scale infrastructure. Programmes also address land rights issues and natural resource management.
Over 160 000 families received essential seeds and tools, livestock medicines and fishing equipment from FAO in 2005. Beneficiaries include conflict-affected farming families in Darfur and returning refugees in southern Sudan, enabling them to resettle and engage in productive livelihoods.
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| FAO’s community-based animal health training builds on local knowledge and capacity. These animal health workers are cattle owners themselves and come from the community they serve. |
FAO is also promoting innovative solutions in Sudan. For example, FAO builds on local knowledge and capacity by undertaking community-based animal health training. Local seed production is also being promoted to lessen dependence on outside commercial suppliers. This approach ensures that recovering farmers have access to a much wider selection of crops, and to varieties suited to local conditions.
FAO is also tackling one of the root causes of conflict in Sudan - land disputes - by providing technical assistance to secure and restitute land rights, address land and property dispute resolution and negotiate consensual land management.
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| Fishing is an important source of food and income for many Sudanese. FAO has provided fishing kits, including twine for nets, to tens of thousands of beneficiaries in southern Sudan. |
All of these programmes focus, not just on providing material assets, but on building the knowledge and skills of vulnerable people so that they are better able to cope with future shocks.
Background
Agriculture remains the mainstay of the Sudanese economy, comprising 45 percent of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some 87 percent of the people of Sudan are dependent on agriculture and related enterprises for their food security and livelihoods, of which the vast majority practice subsistence agriculture within traditional, rain-fed farming systems, vulnerable to dry spells and crop pests.
Decades of marginalization, insecurity and lack of access to basic social services have undermined livelihoods, increased levels of poverty, reduced economic and educational opportunities and led to high rates of malnutrition. Supporting returnees seeking safe haven will be a top priority. Ensuring adequate materials and services to enable returnees to engage in agricultural or fisheries livelihoods upon their return will be central to this process.
Due to the volatile security situation in Darfur, the outcome of the 2005 harvest was far below the total requirements, this despite a good rainy season in 2004. The unrelenting conflict has not only hit regional cereal production, it has also severely reduced food commodity flows from surplus-to-deficit areas. Reportedly, there are no longer functioning markets in remote pastoral areas. Traditionally, Darfur has been a main supplier of livestock for export and local consumption. However, the ongoing conflict has drastically reduced the animal population. It is estimated that 90 percent of the livestock belonging to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees of Darfur has been lost. Darfur's humanitarian crisis is expected to continue unabated well into 2006.
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| Cost-effective assistance: Early funding is crucial in order to carry out time sensitive activities. For example in the food security and livelihoods sector, FAO was able to distribute seeds and tools on time for the planting season in 2005. This reduced the need for costly food aid. |
Southern Sudan has suffered from low crop yields and a lack of adequate pastures for livestock. The current crisis is aggravated by an increasing flow of returnees. Furthermore, there is a risk of poor harvests in the areas of Baher el Ghazal and the Upper Nile.
The 2006 Work Plan outlines the UN and partners planned support to Sudan and employs a regional and sectoral approach, based on extensive consultations with major stakeholders in each region. Programmes to address food security and livelihood issues are presented for each region as follows: Southern Sudan, Darfur, Abyei, Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan, Eastern Sudan, Khartoum and other northern states.
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| Importance of agriculture: With 87 percent of the people of Sudan are dependent on agriculture and related enterprises for their food security and livelihoods, FAO's expertise in farming, livestock, fisheries and forestry is crucial in emergency response and rehabilitation efforts in Sudan. |
FAO proposed assistance
FAO’s proposed humanitarian assistance for Sudan in 2006 includes the distribution of seeds and tools, fishing equipment and livestock medicines to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable farming families, particularly returnees and IDPs, as well as the overall coordination of agricultural relief assistance in the country. In conjunction with humanitarian assistance, FAO is suited to implement and oversee the bridging of relief and recovery assistance given its development mandate. In the agriculture sector, this means introducing improved techniques, including new methodologies in the training and delivery of community-based animal health services, agro-processing and seed multiplication. Support to land tenure is another important issue, as disputes over land and property rights are a root cause of conflict in the country. Strengthening the operational capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources will also be an important focus.
