VZCZCXRO5462
PP RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1126/01 1341321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141321Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2761
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 001126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
USMISSION UN ROME 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: Darfur Livelihoods Assessment 
 
 
------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1.  From April 12 - 27, 2006, USAID/OFDA Livelihoods 
Advisor Courtney Brown visited North and South Darfur to 
monitor and evaluate USAID-funded livelihood activities. 
The USAID livelihoods advisor met with partners and 
visited project sites near El Fasher, North Darfur, and 
Nyala, South Darfur, to assess the viability and impact 
of current USAID-funded livelihood activities.  Due to 
security restrictions, West Darfur projects were not 
assessed. 
 
¶2.  Looking forward, the U.S. government should support 
two different sets of livelihoods activities in Darfur. 
One set of activities should address the needs of IDP 
camp residents through long-term capacity-building and 
skill development and short-term cash-for-work and income- 
generation activities.  An alternate set of activities 
should focus on IDP and host community agro-pastoralists 
who have access to land through the provision of 
agricultural inputs and protection of household assets. 
Livestock restocking programs have the potential to 
increase vulnerability to violent crime within 
beneficiary populations and should generally be avoided 
in both urban and rural areas.  End summary and comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Setting the Scene:  Livelihoods Interventions in Darfur 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶3.  Introduction:  To date in FY 2006, USAID/OFDA has 
provided approximately $8.6 million to nine non- 
governmental organization (NGO) implementing partners to 
support livelihood program activities benefiting an 
estimated 1.3 million IDPs throughout North, South, and 
West Darfur.  Livelihood programs currently target 
populations residing in three distinct environments:  IDP 
camps, urban towns, and rural areas.  Livelihoods 
strategies are designed to assist each of these target 
populations reestablish traditional livelihood patterns. 
 
¶4.  Contacts and Visits:  While in Sudan, Mr. Brown met 
with all USAID/OFDA NGO partners implementing livelihoods 
activities in North and South Darfur including CHF 
International, Relief International (RI), CARE, GOAL, 
Action Contre la Faim (ACF), American Refugee Committee 
(ARC), World Vision International, and Oxfam 
International.  The Livelihoods Advisor also met with the 
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), U.N. 
Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), government 
officials, and other NGOs implementing livelihoods 
activities in the region, but who do not currently 
receive OFDA funding.  The USAID Livelihoods Advisor 
assessed livelihoods activities in Kalma, Abu Shouk, Al 
Salaam, and Zam Zam camps; El Fasher, Nyala, and 
Kebkabiya towns; and rural areas outside of Kebkabiya. 
Finally, the Livelihoods Advisor met with rural 
communities outside of Kebkabiya town in a focus group 
setting to discuss livelihoods challenges and 
opportunities. 
 
¶5.  Objectives:  While assessing partner programs, Mr. 
Brown was asked to evaluate the current strategic 
direction of livelihoods programming in Darfur and 
identify specific activities that effectively buffer 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) against livelihood 
loss or support the reestablishment of traditional and 
alternative livelihood patterns.  Mr. Brown was also 
asked to identify NGO agencies with the capacity to scale- 
up current operations pending final approval of the 
congressional budget supplemental for Sudan. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Partner Analysis: Monitoring and Evaluation 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Lack of Focus:  In meetings with OFDA's NGO 
implementing partners, very few NGOs voiced a clear 
strategic direction for their current or anticipated 
livelihoods activities.  Most livelihoods programs in 
 
KHARTOUM 00001126  002 OF 004 
 
 
camp settings are comprised of income-generation and 
skill-development training activities.  Many income- 
generation and skill-development training activities 
currently employed by NGOs are unsustainable beyond the 
camp setting and require significant financial investment 
by the international community. 
 
¶7.  CHF International:  OFDA partner CHF International 
(CHF) supports livelihood activities centered on 
community centers that host skills training, capacity 
building, and income-generating activities.  While some 
of CHF's programs are clearly unsustainable (grinding 
mills with operating costs of $900/month, distribution of 
chicks where beneficiaries supply fodder after two 
months, etc.), some of CHF's livelihood activities should 
be sustained.  CHF should expand its community animal 
health worker training in an effort to increase knowledge 
dissemination across a wider range of people.  CHF could 
also expand the use of agricultural demonstration plots 
to teach improved agricultural production techniques. 
Instead of trying to introduce alternative livelihoods 
activities that have questionable sustainability, CHF 
should be encouraged to focus on more traditional 
livelihood support. 
 
¶8.  Relief International:  OFDA partner Relief 
International (RI) currently implements livelihoods 
programs very similar in nature and location to CHF.  In 
short, both the quality of RI's programs and its 
organizational capacity to scale-up activities are 
questionable.  Should OFDA continue to fund RI, the 
organization should be encouraged to design more 
traditional livelihood support activities and to 
establish programs in areas currently underserved by NGO 
livelihood initiatives. 
 
¶9.  CARE:  OFDA partner CARE International implements 
water and sanitation activities specifically linked to 
livelihood support.  CARE has located well sites 
strategically to support nomadic migrations within travel 
corridors.  This type of activity supports livelihood 
patterns of pastoralists while also reducing the 
potential for conflict between herders and farmers.  OFDA 
should seek to increase support for activities of this 
nature. 
 
¶10.  ACF:  OFDA partner Action Contre la Faim (ACF) 
implements livelihood programs that target populations in 
rural areas.  ACF views conflict-affected populations in 
rural areas as an underserved area for humanitarian 
assistance.  ACF believes that livelihood support to 
these rural residents could reduce the potential for 
migration to urban areas and IDP camps in search of 
humanitarian services.  Where security allows, OFDA 
should increase support to rural areas in an effort to 
expand geographic coverage of livelihoods activities 
while also reducing the potential for urban migration. 
 
¶11.  ARC:  OFDA partner American Refugee Committee (ARC) 
also targets populations living in rural areas.  Though 
ARC's capacity to scale-up current initiatives is 
uncertain, the organization exhibited a solid 
understanding of livelihoods challenges and opportunities 
within the Darfur security context.  ARC is considering 
small ruminant restocking activities in rural areas. 
OFDA should discuss this activity with ARC in more 
detail, given the concerns regarding animal restocking 
activities detailed in paragraph 20. 
 
¶12.  FAO:  FAO will continue to play an important role in 
supporting livelihoods activities in Darfur over the 
coming year.  Currently, OFDA partners rely on FAO to 
source local seeds and to provide animal vaccinations as 
part of livestock protection programs.  FAO also conducts 
follow-on training to complement NGO capacity-building 
programs.  The valuable support that FAO provides to 
OFDA's NGO partners warrants continued funding. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Moving Forward: Livelihoods Program Strategy for Darfur 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00001126  003 OF 004 
 
 
¶13.  Dual Strategies:  In short, OFDA should support two 
different sets of livelihoods activities in Darfur.  One 
set of activities should address the needs of IDP camp 
residents while the other set should focus on IDP and 
host community populations who continue to practice their 
traditional livelihood patterns.  In camps, livelihood 
activities should be more skill-oriented and seek to 
build capacity within beneficiaries' established 
livelihood patterns.  In towns and urban areas where 
people follow traditional livelihood patterns, program 
interventions should seek to sustain and expand on these 
existing livelihood activities. 
 
¶14.  Focus on Urban Areas:  The FY 2006 OFDA livelihoods 
portfolio is weighted heavily towards activities in camps 
and urban towns that target both IDPs and host community 
populations.  Activities targeting populations in rural 
areas comprise only a small percentage of current 
livelihoods programs.  This focus on camps and towns vice 
rural areas is warranted, as evidenced by continued 
insecurity in Darfur's rural areas.  Security threats 
continue to limit NGO ability to effectively implement 
programs in rural areas.  However, with the signing of 
the Darfur Peace Agreement, security threats in rural 
areas are expected to decline. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Livelihoods Programming within IDP Camps 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  Camps as Classrooms:  OFDA should expand support for 
capacity-building and skill-development training in IDP 
camps.  As residents of many outlying villages all reside 
within close proximity to one another, the camp setting 
offers the ideal "classroom" for widespread knowledge 
dissemination.  Livelihoods interventions that emphasize 
skill-development training programs should be 
complemented with activities that increase the purchasing 
power of displaced populations such as voucher schemes or 
income-generation activities. 
 
¶16.  Strategic Focus:  The OFDA livelihoods strategy for 
camp populations should focus capacity building on agro- 
pastoralism, Darfur's major traditional livelihood 
activity.  Agro-pastoral knowledge gained in the camp 
setting could then improve farming and animal care 
practices when populations return to their home setting. 
OFDA implementing partner CHF International currently 
trains community animal health workers to provide animal 
care in several IDP camps.  In doing so, the CHF program 
develops and strengthens a set of skills which will 
support subsistence practices following the return of 
IDPs to their points of origin.  Programs with similar 
potential for long-term benefits include agricultural 
extension services, demonstration farms, small vegetable 
gardens, and drip irrigation projects. 
 
¶17.  Impact vs. Time Horizon:  Since skill-development 
training and capacity-building programs strengthen 
livelihoods over extended time periods, these livelihood 
interventions should be coupled with activities that 
achieve a more short-term, immediate impact.  Most OFDA 
partners address this need through cash-for-work (CFW) 
programs, voucher schemes, and/or livestock restocking 
activities. 
 
¶18.  Cash-for-Work Programs:  OFDA's livelihoods strategy 
should support CFW programs that have an immediate 
economic impact on IDP camp populations.  These 
activities should be designed around identified camp and 
community needs.  Currently, CFW activities are used 
primarily as a mechanism to increase cash-flow of camp 
residents, as opposed to a quid pro quo exchange of money 
for important services rendered.  OFDA should work with 
implementing partners to ensure that CFW activities 
produce tangible community benefits. 
 
¶19.  Voucher Schemes:  Voucher schemes enable 
humanitarian planners to track household items procured 
by beneficiaries through local market mechanisms.  Thus, 
well-designed voucher schemes can be used as a tool to 
understand the current needs of camp populations.  In 
 
KHARTOUM 00001126  004 OF 004 
 
 
most cases, vouchers schemes are implemented immediately 
following natural disasters or complex emergencies when 
the affected population's need for enhanced purchasing 
power is greatest.  Careful consideration of the 
viability of vouchers in the Darfur context is warranted. 
GOAL, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Mercy Corps 
International have extensive organizational experience 
using voucher tracking schemes to better identify unmet 
needs within camp populations. 
 
¶20.  Livestock Restocking Activities:  Given Darfur's 
unstable and insecure environment, OFDA should not 
support distribution of high-value items to target 
beneficiaries.  Distribution of high-value items in a 
community essentially creates wealth within the recipient 
population, an outcome which may in fact increase 
beneficiary exposure to violent crime.  In the camp 
setting where demand far exceeds supply, it is also 
exceedingly difficult to ensure that livestock restocking 
activities effectively reach beneficiaries with the 
greatest needs. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Livelihoods Programming in Rural Areas and Towns 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶21.  Focus on Inputs:  The OFDA livelihoods strategy for 
displaced populations living within host communities 
should be to support existing livelihoods patterns 
through the provision of livelihoods inputs such as 
seeds, tools, and veterinary care.  This strategy only 
works when the recipient population has access to land 
for farming and/or animal grazing.  Where target 
populations have access to land, OFDA should support 
distribution of agricultural inputs in an effort to 
prevent beneficiary populations from becoming dependent 
on food aid. 
 
¶22.  Protecting Livelihoods:  OFDA should also seek to 
support populations that are trying to re-establish their 
traditional livelihood patterns and prevent further loss 
of livelihood assets.  With regards to livestock, OFDA 
should protect existing livestock holdings through the 
training of animal health workers and by supporting 
animal vaccinations campaigns through FAO. 
 
HUME