Sudan: cross-line operations reach 150,000 people in Nuba Mountains, Sudan

Seeds, Tools and Construction Materials Distributed by FAO

(Reissued as received.)

ROME, 7 June (FAO) -- Farmers in Sudan's contested NubaMountains have received seeds, tools and construction materials from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to rehabilitate agriculture and build dams, seedbanks and community nurseries.

Around 150,000 people on both sides of the conflict between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) will benefit from FAO's agricultural rehabilitation projects in the region.

The FAO supplied timber, cement, metal, wheelbarrows and watering cans by road from the government-held town of Kadugli, through Joint Military Commission checkpoints in the border town of Kauda, to farmers living in areas held by the SPLM.

"Helping farmers in this contested area is an important contribution to the process of political and social reconciliation", said Anne Bauer, Director of FAO's Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division.

"Through its emergency projects, FAO is equally targeting government- and SPLM-held areas on the basis of need.  The distribution of basic agricultural equipment and training in new skills offer farmers and their families, who have suffered years of conflict, an opportunity to build their future", Ms. Bauer said.

Farmers in the SPLM and government areas have also received farming tools produced by local blacksmiths and groundnut, sesame, cowpea, maize and sorghum seeds, including early-maturing, drought-resistant varieties introduced by the FAO to reduce the risk of crop failure.

Approximately 85 per cent of the population of the NubaMountains, which has been a zone of conflict and civil unrest since 1985, is dependent on agriculture and livestock.

Lower Transport Costs, More Beneficiaries

Almost 20 years of conflict, massive internal displacement of farmers and their families and the extensive laying of landmines have resulted in the

widespread destruction of traditional farming.  Levels of food insecurity are high among the more than 50 tribal groups that live in the region.

Costly airlifts were once the only means of distribution for emergency relief supplies, due to the lack of security and poor infrastructure throughout the SPLM-held areas.

The ceasefire agreement reached in 2002 between the Government and the SPLM ensured the safety of passage of emergency relief supplies by land throughout the NubaMountains.

This cost-effective land transport by local trucks enabled the FAO to almost double the number of beneficiaries.

Peace and Agriculture

The FAO is currently operating more than 20 emergency relief and rehabilitation projects throughout the Sudan.

In Kassala, 18 kilometres west of the Eritrean border, the FAO is working with the local non-governmental (NGO) organization Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) to clear and repair around 600 wells, which were seriously damaged when the ElgashRiver swept through the town in July 2003.

In UpperNileState, FAO training courses teach internally displaced people and returnees in the town of Malakal how to preserve and process fish.  This will help the local community to increase the supply and availability of cheap fish as a source of protein, particularly during the period between the first rains and the first harvests, when food is scarce.

In Bahr El Jabel State, the FAO funds training courses and provides metal sheets for the blacksmiths of Juba to make traditional farming tools.  These tools are distributed together with local seed varieties to internally displaced people and women's self-help groups through local NGOs.

FAO operations in the Sudan are financed by Belgium, Canada, the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States.

Contact:  Boudicca Downes, TV Information Officer, boudicca.downes@fao.org, +39 06 570 55980

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