VZCZCXRO4922
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #1347/01 3360750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 020750Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4816
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001347 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
UN ROME FOR HSPANOS 
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI SMIG UN SU
SUBJECT: Darfur Food Survey Shows Mixed Results for 2009 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The World Food Program (WFP) Food Security 
Monitoring System (FSMS) has surveyed Darfuri households since the 
start of 2009 to track trends in food security across the region. 
The implementing food aid community has become increasingly 
concerned that many camp-based internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
expect food aid into the foreseeable future.  Food aid implementers 
want to begin a gradual shift in food aid programming from general 
food distribution (GFD) to a broader community-based focus.  Recent 
FSMS surveys have identified that food security improved in most of 
South Darfur this year.  However, FSMS identified a significant 
deterioration in food security in West Darfur.  End summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
Darfur FSMS Fully Operational 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) WFP introduced FSMS in early 2009 to track the food security 
status of households through conducting surveys in specific 
geographic regions throughout Darfur.  FSMS enables WFP and its CPs 
to better anticipate, prepare for, and respond to crises.  FSMS is 
conducted quarterly in February, May, August, and November of each 
year. These months are strategically chosen in order to capture 
important seasonality data, while also influencing WFP's commodity 
programming decisions.  FSMS focuses on trends and changes in food 
security.  The data collected is statistically representative for 
the sampled locations (camps or villages) but cannot be generalized 
to the state or Darfur-wide level.  However, the 16 to 22 sentinel 
sites in each the three Darfur states are chosen to be indicative of 
similar locations, as well as of broader geographical areas of 
similar characteristics, while also representing broad residential 
status and all types of food aid interventions. 
 
¶3. (U) FSMS collects information on individual households' food 
consumption, income, and coping strategies utilized when facing food 
shortages.  A wide range of data is collected, but the core 
indicators include:  1) a food consumption and expenditure composite 
indicator; 2) a food consumption score; 3) the income proxy (total 
expenditure per capita per day); 4) the proportion of expenditures 
spent on food; and 5) and a coping strategies index.  In addition, 
FSMS monitors market prices, secondary data on local rainfall 
patterns, and insecurity.  The program is now fully operational, and 
WFP has confidence in the professionalism and dedication of its FSMS 
staff, its methodology, the accuracy and timeliness of the data 
gathered, and senior WFP staff members' resulting ability to use 
FSMS as a decision-making tool.  Replacement sentinel sites in each 
state are used when insecurity prevents visits to the original 
site(s).  WFP is now able to track, compare, and contrast survey 
results over time by state, by indicator, by quarter, and by 
sentinel site for all Darfur. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Targeting in a Non-Permissive Environment 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the March 2009 expulsions, significantly fewer 
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are present on 
the ground in Darfur, with a concomitant reduction in monitoring 
capacity for  field operations.  Thus, timely confirmation of 
security conditions favoring returns will be harder to verify. 
Several affiliate NGOs are working to resume expelled NGOs' 
programs, but the protracted process of registration and staffing 
necessitates additional time for these affiliate NGOs to regain 
momentum and capacity.  This reality places an even greater emphasis 
on the quantitative and qualitative food aid management monitoring 
tools are in place on the ground. 
 
¶5. (SBU) There is broad consensus within the food aid implementing 
community that IDP camp head counts and beneficiary re-verifications 
are largely counter-productive efforts that result in security 
incidents.  However, food aid implementers also generally agree that 
the GFD distribution status quo cannot, and should not, continue 
indefinitely.  The ration size for the GFD has been reduced over the 
past year to roughly 70 percent of the official full ration, and, in 
some very specific cases, to as little as 50 percent of the original 
ration for non-IDP beneficiaries.  While originally, the reduction 
was a necessity due to commodity pipeline breaks caused by route 
insecurity during much of 2008, the ration cuts did not result in 
significant, discernable negative impact on the beneficiary 
population.  Based on this experience, coupled with recommendations 
provided by an international panel of experts that WFP contracted in 
early 2009, WFP took further steps to refine its food distribution 
strategies. 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00001347  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (U) In the third round of the Darfur FSMS assessment, which was 
conducted during August, FSMS staff surveyed 1,596 households 
throughout Darfur.  Roughly 40 percent of the households surveyed 
are female-headed households, and the average household size is 
seven persons. In South Darfur, the August FSMS reported that 
physical security had improved for the population at large, but not 
the international community, since the last FSMS monitoring, with no 
security incidents or population displacement reported.  (Note: 
Since the August FSMS, displacements have occurred in northwestern 
Shearia locality in South Darfur.  End note.)  While the third-round 
FSMS data collection was conducted in the middle of the hunger gap 
period (which runs from June to September), food security improved 
in most of the sampled locations in South Darfur compared to the 
previous FSMS quarter.  A considerable increase in total household 
expenditures was also noted in nearly all FSMS-sampled South Darfur 
locations. This increase is attributed primarily to the increased 
demand for agricultural labor required to prepare land in advance of 
the rainy season, with more employment opportunities resulting in a 
more stable income for poorer day laborers. 
 
¶7. (U) In West Darfur, FSMS survey results identified a significant 
deterioration in the food security status of the resident population 
due to a sharp increase in local market food prices and the high 
vulnerability of resident communities to market fluctuations.  The 
West Darfur FSMS confirmed that agricultural labor was by far the 
most important income activity for all three community types, 
including IDPs in camps, IDPs living among host communities, and 
resident populations during the third round.  FSMS was also able to 
highlight that, due to continued poor rains in the south of the 
state, income levels have continued to drop, particularly for 
residents of Foro Baranga locality.  The third-round FSMS in West 
Darfur also confirmed that a large proportion of households in all 
three community types were cultivating this season, attributed to 
perceptions of a more stable physical security environment. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8. (SBU) The sample FSMS monitoring snapshots from South and West 
Darfur demonstrate the sharp locality focus that FSMS can provide to 
a food aid implementing community interested in better resource 
targeting.  When these FSMS snapshots are combined with WFP's SOS 
distribution, food basket, and post-distribution monitoring from the 
final distribution points, WFP and CPs will have the type of focused 
data required to transition from a large-scale general distribution 
modality, which has been the status quo for the past six years, to 
more targeted programs designed to address the needs of specific 
beneficiary groups.  While these shifts will not occur overnight and 
will likely present many challenges to WFP and its partners, the end 
result should be more effective and efficient use of the 
considerable food aid resources under WFP management.  End comment. 
 
WHITEHEAD