El Daein, East Darfur - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Forest National Corporation (FNC) and Wageningen University and Research (WUR), organized a one-day workshop as part of the Food and Nutrition Security  Resilience Programme (FNS-REPRO) implemented in Sudan.

 The workshop aimed at presenting and validating the findings of FNS-REPRO multi-disciplinary analyses. The workshop was graced by the presence of the Wali of East Darfur State, the executive directors of Adila, Abu Karinka and El Deain localities, the Director General of the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources, East Darfur native administration, Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) Commissioner and representative of local communities. The participants were 80 trainees from the Government, communities, private sector, research institutions, NGOs and UN agencies.

 FNS-REPRO's work in East Darfur will unfold three broad tracks: improving rural communities' access to land and management of natural resources; generating enhanced and new livelihood opportunities along the gum Arabic value chain; and enhancing communities' knowledge and capacity on nutrition-sensitive livelihood support. The programme will support different beneficiaries, including farmers and pastoralists, producer associations and value chain actors.

 The three selected localities, Abu Karinka, Adeela and El Daein, have high potentials for gum Arabic production and value chain upgrading. Gum Arabic is one of the key cash products that can contribute to the local and national economy of Sudan, beside protecting the environment.

 “We defined our needs and priorities and we are very grateful about the support provided by FAO and the Government of the Netherlands to help our communities to sustainably manage natural resources while providing income opportunities,” said his Excellency Lieutenant General Almuzamil Abu Bakar Mohamed Haj, Governor of East Darfur. All community representatives, and particularly gum Arabic producers, highly welcomed the initiative and they expressed their full support and collaboration.  

“Countries and regions affected by protracted crises like Darfur are often dependent on humanitarian aid and too frequently written off as places where agricultural and rural development cannot take place at scale. FAO's REPRO project targets to prove the contrary. The programme aims to show that development interventions centered on strengthening livelihoods over the long-term can take place at a large scale - even in unstable operational theatres,” said Dr. Babagana Ahmadu, FAO Representative to Sudan.

The project is based on the premise that humanitarian, development and peace building efforts must be complimentary and mutually reinforcing.

“This project, which will be implemented at the heart of the gum Arabic belt, will have a holistic approach to support livelihoods and improve the production and gum Arabic value chain in East and North Darfur States and hence the whole economy of Sudan,” said Mr. Abd Elhai Mohamed Sherif, Deputy General Manager of the Forest National Corporation.

 All stakeholders welcomed and validated the results of the project inception phase and the proposed activities for 2020.