Participation,political economy and protection: food aid governance in Darfur,Sudan

Humanitarian food assistance aims to meet short‐term emergency needs, yet often it is sustained over many years and develops its own systems and infrastructure that interact with local governance and local communities. This paper explores the links between participation and local governance, as well as the implications for exclusion of certain groups, the dignity of those involved, and protection issues. The paper proposes a framework for reviewing the governance functions and capacities of local Food Relief Committees, based on the following criteria: accountability; gender equity; legitimacy and authority; representativeness; responsiveness; and transparency. A case study of the Darfur region reviews how local governance evolves as a result of both the wider conflict and of adapting to the international humanitarian system, itself a form of governance. The paper concludes by proposing three strategies for enhancing participation and applying lessons learned: improved analysis of participation; linking programming strategies and protection; and taking account of governance functions and capacities.     

Conflict, camps and coercion: the ongoing livelihoods crisis in Darfur

This paper presents the findings of a study commissioned by World Food Programme (WFP) in early 2006 to enhance understanding of how the conflict in Darfur has affected livelihoods and markets, and of the effects of food aid. The livelihoods of many in Darfur were devastated early on in the conflict, principally through the widespread looting or destruction of assets and highly restricted population movements, which struck at the heart of pre-conflict livelihoods. Livelihood strategies for most people are now restricted, poorly remunerated and often associated with high risk of attack. Patterns of coercion and exploitation have also become entrenched; and markets and trade, the lifeblood of Da fur's economy pre-conflict, severely disrupted. Against this backdrop the impact of food aid on livelihoods in Darfur has been overwhelmingly positive. The paper proposes a number of preconditions for investment in recovery in Darfur, and recommends ways in which livelihoods can be supported in the current context of ongoing conflict.     

Sub-regional integration in Sudan: the key to food security and recovery

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan has created a new opportunity for peace. Approaches to food security must now be reoriented based on the agro-ecological diversity in Sudan. WFP is in a unique position to catalyse an approach to food security that meets immediate needs and contributes to long-term recovery, in collaboration with the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Government of South Sudan (GOSS). Aggregate food production in Sudan has increased in the past decade. At sub-regional levels, however, many areas remain food insecure. Major research must be undertaken to identify optimum levels of food production and barriers to access to food at sub-regional levels as a first step towards linking deficit areas with areas of surplus. Initiatives must also be undertaken to facilitate increased integration between sub-regions. Increased sub-regional linkages could ensure more efficient delivery of food in the short term as well as recovery and economic growth in the long term.     

An Ethiopian refugee village in Sudan: the question of employment

Abstract— There are some 460,000 Eritrean and Tigrean political refugees in Sudan. The numbers have increased dramatically since the mid-1970s, and as yet there are no convincing signs of peace which would allow the prospect of a speedy return home. Sudan is thus faced with one of the Third World's largest populations of long term refugees, and the capacity of the economy to absorb such numbers into its labour force is an acute and potentially violent issue. Discussion and planning has been hindered by a lack of specific information on the proportion of refugees who are of urban or rural origin and the proportion of those who might undertake skilled or unskilled employment. The following report of a census and survey of a refugee village in eastern Sudan offers some insight into the problem and suggests steps towards its solution.     

The future of food security in the Three Areas of Sudan

Currently, the pace of recovery in the 'Three Areas' is moving faster than the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This gap is leading to greater imbalances in income, unsustainable urbanization, overexploitation of the environment and resource based conflict. Unless regulated, the likely result will be chronic poverty and an undermining of the success of the CPA. Agencies must be mindful of how they provide assistance so that they support the CPA. The analysis of food security should take place in the context of a larger political, social and economic analysis of the emerging situation. The least developed areas should be prioritised and interventions should provide benefits to the full range of socioeconomic groups. WFP must identify its role in the wider and integrated response. It should support the emerging peace process and the key reforms. If WFP chooses to consolidate its activities, it will require capable strategic partners. If it chooses to invest more in building the capacity of government and community structures, it must improve its skill base and field presence     

Environmental degradation and political constraints in ethiopia

The article begins by outlining the extent and origins of environmental degradation in northern Ethiopia. Soil conservation and related environmental rehabilitation measures adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture, with donor assistance, are outlined and shown to be inadequate to reverse the trend of environmental degradation. Their scope and financing are too limited, there are too few immediate production returns for the peasants, and the conventional 'top-down' implementation of the measures means that peasants participate in rehabilitation programmes as paid workers (food-for-work) rather than as responsible landowners. The post-revolutionary government has continued the centralising and state-building policies of its predecessors, substituting the state for feudal lords as the appropriator of peasant production and labour. The wars in Eritrea and Tigray consume the lion's share of the state's resources and development programmes have become increasingly extractive (procurement of grain at low prices, labour campaigns, etc.) and penetrative (relocation of population, collectivisation of agriculture, etc). The problem of land degradation is ultimately a political one: how to find a political formula within which efficient development administration can be combined with power sharing and cultural pluralism.     

膨胀土引起的工程灾害及其教训——苏丹国的情况

在苏丹260万km2的国土面积中,三分之一以上分布有膨胀土。膨胀土成为引起工程灾害的一个重要原因。本文描述了苏丹膨胀土的物理力学性质,报告了由膨胀土引起的灾害、预防策略、修复措施以及修复灾害的费用。中国许多地区也分布着膨胀土,存在膨胀土灾害问题。本文所述的内容,对中国具有一定的参考价值。     

Information Exchange in the Disaster Zone: Interaction Between Aid Workers and Recipients in South Sudan

The author's experience of information collection and analysis in the Bahr-el-Ghazal region of south Sudan is reflected on here. The paper suggests that existing strategies of needs assessment are often based on misunderstandings about the cultural, social and economic conditions of war-affected communities. Furthermore, the needs assessment process has taken on a life of its own: for the intended beneficiaries it is often a wearying experience, but one which can yield benefits if the 'correct' answers are provided to sometimes ridiculous and often insensitive questions. For the assessors, participatory patterns of data collection provide an apparently scientific justification for decision-making in contexts characterised by complex political and moral dilemmas and organisational confusion.     

Mortality and morbidity in refugee camps in eastern Sudan: 1985-90

Civil war has disrupted life in Ethiopia since the 1960s and many people have sought refuge in Eastern Sudan, particularly during the famine emergency of 1984–85. UNHCR has provided the main financial support for the refugee programme, but began scaling down operations in 1990. Nearly 300,000 refugees still live in camps and benefit from food and health programmes. Health services are co-ordinated by the Sudanese Refugee Health Unit which operates a centralised health and nutrition surveillance system with the co-operation of the NGOs responsible for health care in the camps. A revision of the monthly reporting system and the establishment of a computer database in 1990 provided an opportunity to review the situation in the camps over the five years since the emergency. Child death rates for example, appear to have been reduced to levels below those expected in rural Africa. Patterns of mortality, morbidity, and nutritional status are outlined here and point to the general effectiveness of the health care programme. The surveillance system can, however, be used to identify those camps which have persistent problems, while monthly comparisons with the situation in previous years can provide early warning of deteriorating conditions.     

From emergency to social security in Sudan - part I: the problem

This is the first part of a two-part article which stresses the need to move away from short term emergency measures to a more general system of social security. A weakness in much of the thinking on food security in Sudan is its conception of a normally self-provisioning peasantry which is pushed into distress only as a consequence of exceptional external conditions. Food catastrophes are therefore seen as, essentially, temporary phenomena requiring emergency interventions. This article proposes a different view: that the commercial development of Sudan has engendered a crisis of subsistence synonymous with the collapse of indigenous support systems, the spread of absolute poverty and the erosion of the country's resource base. In the North this situation has come about through economic means and in the South through war. The spread of absolute poverty and the resulting vicious struggle for scarce resources cannot, however, be separated from the decay in governance. Part I of the article attempts to establish the interconnections between these elements and thereby to indicate the problems which a system of social security would have to overcome. Part II will examine the institutional consequences of the crisis, namely the imposition of a donor-led system of social security.     

Squatters' nightmare: the political economy of disasters and disaster response in zambia

Despite the frequency with which disasters occur, very few if any third world countries have developed elaborate disaster mitigation networks. Most commonly, governments in these countries focus their attention on disaster relief rather than disaster mitigation and preparedness. It is the contention of this paper that apart from the political and economic instability which will result from government apathy, lack of sensitivity to the question of disasters and disaster preparedness will result in untold suffering for the millions of our people who live on the urban margins and who are the most exposed to the dangers of disasters. This paper is about disasters and disaster response in Zambia.     

Food aid and development in southern Sudan: implications of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for response planning

In the post-Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) era a greater impact on the unacceptably high prevalence of child malnutrition is more likely to come from additional investment and attention to education, health, hygiene, sanitation and childcare practices than from expanded food aid interventions. The negligible impact of food aid on malnutrition, although most commonly challenged on the quality of needs assessments, is equally attributable to the timing of deliveries, and a dysfunctional distribution system. Comparatively few resources have been allocated to strengthen skills for assessing, analysing and understanding community priorities, local economies, and social safety nets. A more thoughtful allocation of scarce funds could have more impact if a range of alternative responses was considered. Participation in and commitment to a more independent livelihoods analytical forum would improve communication with the new government, local leaders and other partners, as well as providing a platform for reaching consensus on both humanitarian and development planning over the next five years.     

黄土高原发展与生态改善

“陇中之苦,甲于天下”。这是黄土高原对甘肃定西地区和宁夏的西吉、海原、固原(西海固)的历史性结论。政府和国际援助多年来的努力使这一带的贫困状况有所减轻。但是至今这种状况仍然没有全部改观,特别是在远离城市和道路的深山。“三西”依然是中国最贫困的地区。究其原因,降水少而干旱,是生产效率低下的主因。频繁的旱灾往往使粮食绝收,人畜干渴而死;而夏秋集中的豪雨及多发的冰雹,又往往毁坏农作物和冲毁田地。