According to OCHA, nearly 76,000 people were newly displaced across Darfur during the first six months of 2016. The vast majority of this displacement was triggered by the conflict in the mountainous Jebel Marra area in the Darfur region, which started in January 2016. There are an estimated 52,871 IDPs from Jebel Marra who have arrived at IDP camps in Sortony and Tawila in North Darfur since the start of the conflict.

On 15 July, FAO Sudan and Kebkabiya Smallholder Charitable Society started the distribution of 75 MT of fodder and supplementary animal feed in Sortony. This follows an initial distribution of 65 MT of fodder and feed at the Tawilla-Burgo IDP camp on 1 July by FAO and local NGO SAEKER. The feed distributed to date is enough to feed 9,500 goats and donkeys until the end of August. The initiative was made possible through a USD $400 000 grant from CERF providing animal supplementary feeding and vaccines to protect the livestock assets of newly displaced people living in IDP camps in Sortony and Tawilla. Distribution of the animal feed was overseen by members of newly established camp committees comprised of 10 IDP beneficiaries, with women representing over 25% of committee membership across the two IDP camps.

Keeping livestock healthy provides essential livelihood support to people displaced from Jebel Marra in recent months, where livestock are among displaced families’ most valuable assets. Donkeys are an important form of transportation and income source, helping displaced families to collect water, firewood, wild foods and other forest products. Healthy goats produce up to 60 percent more meat and milk, which ensures families’ access to food, including protein and micronutrients. The production of milk in particular is an essential household strategy for the poorest families in Jebel Marra to protect their children from malnutrition and to supplement the diets of their children who are already suffering from malnutrition. In this way, support for livestock production in the current crisis can reduce stunting, as livestock provide vulnerable households with a critical source of high quality protein, with high bioavailability and essential micronutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamin B12 and zinc. In doing so, these interventions also reinforce and strengthen the activities of the Nutrition Sector, as well as enhance the impact and reach of general food distribution.

Adam Ali, 55, emphasized the need for livestock interventions at what has proved to be a difficult time for him and his family: “The feed just came at the right time. Already our animals, especially our donkeys, have become very thin and sickly due to the poor quality and quantity of feed. There is no pasture and very limited crop residues. Because of this I have already lost one donkey and two goats. Thank God FAO’s animal feed. It will improve the conditions of our animals and will stop the death toll. This feed will help to supplement the small amount of sorghum that we provide to our animals with some salt and straw.”

Disaster-affected populations have the right to the protection of their livelihoods. The provision of livestock support services for displaced families is underpinned by a rights-based approach: These interventions satisfy the right to food and the right to a standard of living, which satisfies the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards for humanitarian response. The provision of veterinary and feedings services is also in alignment of the second LEGS (Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards) livelihoods objectives.

“The livestock of displaced people should be considered among their most valuable assets. Displaced families have risked a lot to bring these animals with them and their decision to do so was in an attempt to preserve their most valuable assets,” says El Mardi Ibrhaim, FAO Technical Officer and resident livestock specialist. “Families’ needs related to the health and productivity of their animals is an important part of an effective and holistic humanitarian response in North Darfur.”

Supporting the affected population to avoid of non-reversable coping strategies (e.g. distress sales of productive livestock) is essential. For humanitarian programming in Sudan, the vulnerability of households and individuals that depend on livestock for their livelihoods is directly linked to livestock assets. The greater the value of livestock assets, the greater the resilience of households to cope with the shock of displacement. In North Darfur, very poor households do not have the ability to sell additional livestock without jeopardizing their medium to longer-term ability to maintain stable herd sizes

Affected households fleeing the Jebel Marra region earlier this year are already among the poorest, who already face below-average livestock prices in Darfur and reduced household food access over a protracted lean season from now (which started in March and is expected to persist until the beginning of the next harvest period in October 2016). FEWS NET cites that populations of greatest concern in the current food security outlook for Sudan include IDPs and drought-affected poor households in North Darfur.

FAO Sudan will continue to advocate for the expansion of livestock health interventions to ensure that the needs of pastoral families across Darfur and the rest of Sudan are addressed by the humanitarian community.