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Sudan

Sudan faces food crisis

KHARTOUM - As many as a million people in North and West Kordofan could run short of food from April until the November harvest unless institutional donors provide sufficient funding immediately. Other regions in North Sudan facing food shortages are in the East, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Darfur.

The food shortage is due to insufficient and erratic rains causing crops to fail and insecurity in areas such as Darfur and West Kordofan. It is compounded at the household level by decreased purchasing power. In North Kordofan, the market price of staple items is very high - sorghum is up 45 percent from last year and millet by 125 percent.*

Pledges are needed now so food can be distributed as soon as possible. It takes a minimum of four months for a pledge to materialize into food distribution, according to the World Food Program. Institutional donors should consider buying food regionally, where possible. Funding is also needed to support agricultural work that will help farmers produce crops for the next season.

"Sudan is at a critical juncture, facing challenges and opportunities," said Leo Roozendaal, country director for CARE in Sudan. "Donors can assist long-term recovery by coordinating their assistance and by balancing emergency relief with development services. This means providing food aid while supporting farmers and ensuring access to water, enabling people to produce sufficient food supplies. Donors must provide enough resources now to avert a crisis. Pledges are far short of what is needed."

CARE is the only aid agency in North and West Kordofan with capacity to immediately implement a large-scale program. In response to the looming crisis, CARE is calling for donor commitment to distribute food and provide agriculture services that will help some 266,000 people in 70 isolated and remote villages. Participants in food-for-work projects will build grain stores and hafirs to store water. CARE plans to distribute seed for sorghum, millet, groundnut (staple crops), as well as sesame and cowpea (cash crops), to be planted in April and May. CARE also plans to establish a network of farmers to distribute improved seed varieties and receive training in seed multiplication techniques.

In North and West Kordofan, CARE has been working with communities to improve their food security. Unfortunately, lack of funding will result in CARE's withdrawal from Kordofan in April. Thus far, CARE has helped 65,000 households by distributing seeds, training farmers, establishing farmer field schools and constructing hafirs, as well as creating village committees to manage these resources. Working with the State Ministry of Agriculture and Water Department, CARE assisted farmers to increase their production by 35 percent.

CARE has worked in Sudan since 1979, and provides emergency and development services throughout the country. Activities include projects in reproductive and general health, water, agriculture, economic development and food security, as well as support for displaced people and refugees.

About CARE: CARE is one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations fighting global poverty in more than 70 countries. CARE helps communities improve their quality of life through projects in agriculture and natural resources, economic development, education, food, health, water and sanitation and emergency response. For more information, please visit www.care.org.

* December 2004 food security assessment by CARE, the State Ministry of Agriculture and other aid agencies.

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Contacts:

Leo Roozendaal, +249 (09)1230 7968, leo@sudan.care.org
Lynn Heinisch, +27 (0)83 626 3113, heinisch@care.org