Part Two

Facing the Famine:

Abbey Little
ENV 4310
11/30/2017
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International Community Seeks to Help (continuation)

In addition to Mercy Corps, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United

Nations, and The World Food Programme, Medair, Oxfam International, and the International

Rescue Committee are also on the ground in South Sudan seeking to help the population

overcome the civil conflict and supply aid to address the food crisis affecting the entire country.

Medair, an NGO founded in 1989, has been working in South Sudan since 1992 as “one

of the most active humanitarian relief organizations in the country” (Medair, 2017). The

organization focuses on providing emergency response, health and nutrition, safe drinking water,

and sanitation. In doing so, they provided relief and recovery for a total of 467, 940 people in

2016 (Annual Reports, 2016). Those that have been assisted have received help in the following

ways: treatments at Medair clinics; training to work in the health and nutrition field; screenings

and treatments for malnutrition; supplemental feeding for immediate need; improved access to

safe drinking water; training to maintain latrine and handwashing facilities; and emergency

shelters and essential items such as blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping nets, and cooking sets

(Annual Reports, 2016).

Oxfam International was founded in 1955 from several non-governmental organizations.

By joining together, they aimed to “work together for greater impact on the international stage to

reduce poverty and injustice” (History of Oxfam International | Oxfam International). Their

presence in South Sudan has addressed both immediate response to the humanitarian crisis, as

well as long term response and development, helping over 500,000 people (Hunger Crisis in

South Sudan | Oxfam International). Immediate response efforts include regular food distribution

in emergency areas and the provision of canoes so that those that have escaped to shelter in the

swamp lands can have access to help they need. Long term response has taken place in the forms
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of support for food production through “livestock, seeds and fishing gear, as well as giving

training on improved farming methods,” (Hunger Crisis in South Sudan | Oxfam International)

and by cash and voucher distribution so that people are able to participate in the functioning

markets.

The International Rescue Committee was founded in 1933 and has been working to help

the people of southern Sudan since 1989 (Rescue.org). Their mission has been to help the

Sudanese people recover and regain control of their future, especially those that are in “hard-to-

reach areas” (Rescue.org). Their response efforts have been aimed at expanding medicinal clinics

to target basic and reproductive healthcare, as well as to help survivors of sexual violence. In

addition, they have created programs training both community and government leaders, teaching

them the importance of human rights. To help combat the spread of disease, the IRC is initiating

restoration for wells and providing sanitation services. To help those returning to South Sudan

after fleeing to refugee camps, the IRC is supplying emergency aid and job and livelihood

training to help returning refugees adjust back to their lives in South Sudan (Rescue.org).

The above organizations know that the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is critical.

They also realize that although the food crisis is a major priority with relief efforts, it cannot be

solved unless people are able to function safely without fear of having to flee or without stability

in their communities.

Evaluations of Local Efforts

PACT’s “Justice for All” program in South Sudan is an extremely effective way to help

mitigate the conflict occurring in South Sudan. With a focus on providing community access to

justice, the organization has introduced practical learning experiences and opportunities bringing
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about a “new generation of lawyers” (PACT Global Measures, 2016). They provide services to

victims of child marriage, domestic violence, labor exploitation, people who have been wrongly

imprisoned, and disagreements. By providing both services and education/ training opportunities

combined, PACT is making a long- term investment in helping the people of South Sudan. Once

the organization is no longer present, the Sudanese people will be able to maintain their

knowledge, continue to work towards peacemaking, and continue to train younger generations to

do the same. In 2016, the organization improved access to both health and social services for

5,107 people (PACT Global Measures, 2016). Although these strategies are not directly

supplying food or solving the food crisis currently in existence, they do address an underlying

problem, conflict and societal instability, which has not made the production, distribution, or

consumption of food any easier.

Evaluations of International Community Organizations

Mercy Corps presence in South Sudan is serving as an emergency response to many

families caught up in conflict, with nothing to eat, as well as distributing kits to help with long-

term solutions. By providing the cash payments to families, Mercy Corps is addressing the

immediate need for money so that food can be purchased. By distributing fishing, veggie, seed

and crop kits, Mercy Corps is providing longer-term care. However, an issue that arises with

simply distributing these kits is that many families coming to the Mercy Corps offices to pick

them up, either do not have land to cultivate because they have been displaced or the spread of

disease to both animals and people have caused a decrease in fish and potable water that is safe

to fish in (Mercy Corps, 2017).

The World Food Programme’s partnership with the Food and Agricultural Organization,

with funding from the United Kingdom, has provided support to 77,820 farmers in the northern
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region of South Sudan (World Food Programme). Their work in this region, which has been

consistently food insecure, has allowed the community members to gain an income while

building community assets, such as wells and fences to help with farming. This seems to be an

effective tactic because it allows community members to feel a connection to the work they have

done, hopefully so that they will maintain the assets into the future, while making a profit. The

wells and fences also aid in increased crop yields by contributing a water source closer to the

farm land and keeping pests away. Additionally, the WFP and FAO have provided

demonstrations and supervision for new farming techniques, which have allowed the people to

begin growing their crops more effectively for personal and family consumption, as well as a

profit through the available markets. As mentioned in part one, the inflation rate of 660%,

combined with the poverty rate of 65.9%, has caused almost zero purchasing power. By

contributing cash, community assets, and educational training, the WFP and FAO are investing

in both short-term aid and long-term aid, while giving them the power to invest in the markets

that are available to boost the crashing economy.

Mawien Diany, a South Sudanese man, now grows both sorghum and groundnuts because of the

education he received from the WFP and FAO.

“We are determined thanks to these projects and we will continue to cultivate so we have

our own food which can support our families. I thank the UK – because of their support we have

food and we have money and now we can cultivate for ourselves” (Soper, 2017).

Programs conducted by these organizations do address the root causes of the food

problems because while a lot of conflict has stemmed from political corruption and instability, it

continues because people do not have what they need to survive. This creates a vicious cycle of

turmoil because the fight for food intensifies, disease spreads, and malnutrition and food
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insecurity increases. These programs also offer short-term relief to help the people get back on

their feet and begin investing, growing, and maintaining a functioning lifestyle that allows them

to provide for their families. I believe that the problems contributing to food insecurity in South

Sudan are rooted deep in the country’s history- instant corruption after becoming a new country,

lack of knowledge for cultivating the abundance of land, and widespread poverty, to name a few.

Any help these people can receive, especially help with long lasting effects to promote self-

sufficiency, serves a purpose to lowering the rates of food insecurity and malnutrition at this

stage of the crisis.

The number of people that Medair has helped, as stated in their 2016 report, is

remarkable. By providing health treatments, the spread of disease has the potential to be at a

lower rate. The training programs they have implemented in the communities for both sanitation

and health services will allow them to have knowledge to treat illnesses and disease in a sanitary

and safe way and knowledge for spreading prevention long after the organization is gone.

Additionally, their provision of emergency materials serves the immediate needs to those

displaced in refugee camps, which is crucial to preventing conflict from occurring in these camps

for lack of supplies.

Oxfam International’s distribution of canoes is the most unique form of aid, as it provides

an opportunity for those who have had to flee to desolate swamp areas to escape harm, a chance

to return safely back to their homes or access the aid that is being provided. Additionally, the

cash and voucher distributions, like those in other organizations, provide the people with

purchasing power in the markets that are functioning. If more money begins to circulate, the

inflation rate will lower and food will become cheaper to purchase.
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The International Rescue Committee is targeting an issue that is not being targeted in

many other organizations. By focusing on the medical aspects of reproductive healthcare and

psychological help for those affected by sexual violence, they are helping to ensure a more stable

mental and physical state of the Sudanese people. I think this service paired with the work that

PACT is doing with violence and conflict prevention, could be very beneficial to all of the

people of South Sudan. These organizations could help produce a productive and stable

community, that could then learn new farming and sustainability techniques to prosper.

The above organizations are all supplying immediate relief to these people, which is

extremely important in such a time of turmoil. Long term relief and education will do nothing if

the those affected by this civil strife, displacement, and food insecurity have no means of

immediate survival. However, the long-term relief efforts being performed are what will ensure

the self-sufficiency the Sudanese people need to take advantage of their arable land and to

combat the civil strife occurring.

Recommendations

A 2012 report by the World Food Programme stated:

Supporting access to food through medium-term livelihood/ resilience building and food

and non-food transfers is therefore necessary in the immediate future to sustain life, but

this needs to be coupled with large scale investments in agriculture and education to

ensure sustainable food security. (World Food Programme, 2012)

This statement is true in my opinion. In an ideal world, the organizations working in

South Sudan would collectively begin by addressing the humanitarian and food crises facing the

people together with all short-term aid, followed secondly by community rebuilding, and finally
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long-term sustainability. You cannot fix the underlying problems all with short-term aid, nor can

you immediately begin with rebuilding sustainability strategies if the community, state, or

country is not stable. Ultimately, however, without a change in the current political conflictual

realm of South Sudan, no policies or actions will do much to change the food crisis.

Short-Term Recommendation: Continuation of immediate humanitarian aid

The first recommendation, continuation of humanitarian aid, falls under the short-term

section because it is crucial to supply these people with what they need to get through each day.

If this must happen at refugee camps because of conflict in the areas surrounding, that is what

needs to continue happening. However, if the areas where people live are accessible by

humanitarian aid workers, supplying immediate aid to their home communities would be ideal.

When people have access to food and water in one place, they stop migrating and fleeing to find

those things. When this happens, the potential for disease to stop spreading increases and people

are no longer completely abandoning their plots of land, allowing for them to continue taking

care of it instead of leaving it for the soil to deplete. Additionally, this would allow farming

knowledge to continue being passed down from the elders to the children, keeping farming

knowledge in the families. I realize this is not possible in all areas of South Sudan, as 2 million

people have fled to new areas as of November 2017 (Refugees (UNHCR)). However, the general

continuation of humanitarian aid is necessary to ensure people have access to food, water, and

sanitation services.

Mid-Term Recommendation: Community Rebuilding

Like many of the governmental and nongovernmental organizations are already doing,

food for work, food for training, and food for food programs should be heavily implanted. The
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need for infrastructure in the forms of wells for potable water and irrigation purposes, roads,

fences, and buildings throughout the communities is great. These programs allow each member

of the community to contribute to rebuilding and creating a safe environment for themselves and

their families. In return, they receive food or money to take home to feed their families and

invest in the markets. While it is not guaranteed the people will directly take the money to invest

or take the food home to their families, at least infrastructure is built and they are taught how to

maintain it, which allows them to take the next step towards sustainability. In addition to these

programs, educational systems need to be implemented once again in communities. The

educational policies should be targeted at those who have never had any education as a result of

fleeing from conflict, women and girls, and all children. Without education, no policies can be

properly sustained. Throughout the midterm recommendation phase, education should also be

planned for farming techniques. This could be related to knowledge about planting more than

one crop to address malnutrition with higher nutrient foods, better growing techniques for higher

crop yields, or investing in markets to lower the inflation rate and develop an accessible

economy.

Long-Term Recommendation: Sustainability

The final recommendation phase should be all about creating policies for sustainability.

Ethiopia and Bangladesh were both facing similar situations as South Sudan in the 70s- famine

and widespread conflict and corruption. However, long-term investments in the economy and

agriculture have allowed both countries to be an example of reducing hunger problems with good

government investments (IFPRI, 2017). South Sudan could be another example. As mentioned in

part one, 85 million hectares of land is suitable for production but only 4.5% is being cultivated

(FAO Land Cover Database, 2010). Building off recommendation two, farming techniques
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would teach people how to farm with larger yields and more crops, and government investments

would encourage trading within the local community markets and across the country. With

policies focused on investing in road networks, more goods could be transported throughout

Sudan, opening markets and allowing food availability to reach more people. In addition, a

nutrition education plan should be put into to place teaching the population the importance of

maintaining different types of foods for different nutrient purposes. This could be implemented

by the government with the help of the FAO or the WFP. With food and education both

available, food security and malnutrition would not necessarily be solved, but both would be

addressed. Open markets, improved infrastructure, farming, and a balanced economy would

ultimately open opportunities for employment, allowing for steady inflows of cash for families

so that they can supply food and invest, once again into the economy.

Conclusion

South Sudan is a country that has faced political instability and turmoil for more than five

years. Other than the immediate aid currently happening in the country, where aid workers are

able to reach, long term plans need to be made to build the economy, infrastructure, and the

markets back up so that they can support the people and allow for food production, distribution,

and consumption to become regulated. However, before any policy can work and be sustained, a

country of civil war and conflict needs to gain stability.

References

Annual Reports. http://relief.medair.org/en/annual-reports. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

Ending Famines and Chronic Hunger Requires Good Governance | IFPRI.

https://www.ifpri.org/blog/ending-famines-and-chronic-hunger-requires-good-

governance. Accessed 30 Oct. 2017.

FAO, George Fominyen-10 February 2017 —. Photo ©. UN World Food Programme.

http://www.wfp.org/stories/south-sudan-fao-and-wfp-help-bahr-el-gazal-farmers-

increase-their-resilience?_ga=2.161721916.1262234303.1512067871-

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History of Oxfam International | Oxfam International.

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2017.

Hunger Crisis in South Sudan | Oxfam International.

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f. Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.

Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations High Commissioner for. “UNHCR South Sudan Situation.”

UNHCR South Sudan Situation, http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/regional.php. Accessed

1 Dec. 2017.
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Soper, Anna. “Supporting Self-Sufficiency in South Sudan.” World Food Programme Insight, 20

Sept. 2017, https://insight.wfp.org/supporting-self-sufficiency-in-south-sudan-

1bd786629c6f?_ga=2.161721916.1262234303.1512067871-895071602.1512067871.

South Sudan. http://relief.medair.org/en/countries/south-sudan. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

---. International Rescue Committee (IRC), https://www.rescue.org/country/south-sudan.

Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

“Why We’re Not Giving up on South Sudan.” Mercy Corps, 7 July 2017,

https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/south-sudan/why-were-not-giving-south-sudan.

World Food Programme. South Sudan - Report on Food Security and Nutrition. 2012,

https://www.wfp.org/content/south-sudan-report-food-security-and-nutrition-2012.