Food Security and Agriculture

Dear supporters of Darfur Women Network,Inc.,

On behalf of Darfur Women Network, I would like to share with my expeience, my observation, and news from Inside Darfur Refugees camp, Touloum during my visit in June 2014.

The Darfur refugees in Touloum camp in Chad were native farmers in their home of Sudan before they crossed the border into Chad due to increase of violence and instability in Darfur in 2003.  The refugees depend on World Food Program (WFP) on their food. Redio Dabang reported in 2013 about sever reduction of food rations and delayed the distribution by the WFP program in 2013.

Therefore, the refugees contacted Darfur Women Network, Inc. ( DWN)  immediately and asked for help . The DWN investigated the needs and designed the Food Security and Agriculture to help transfer the refugees from dependening on WFP to self-sufficiency.

Fortunately, our project, Safe Stoves for Darfur Refugee Mother, “received fund, so, I visited Touloum refugees camp in June and returned in August 2014. We are able to start our project, distributed over 200 safe stoves, and met with refugees to discuss their needs and the solutions based on their own prospective. I had discussion with local leaders, service providers, women, girls, an youth in the camp.

As eyewitness, the children are hungry, girls, mother, and all refugees are hungry and myself I experienced huger while I was in the refugees camp.  I was there, no access to food, jobs, or any sources of income. The education administration and teachers told me that students fell every day during school assembly and tests because they are hungry. Huge number of children with malnutrition that affects their intelligence and their immune system. Youth, women, elderly, men stated that the shortage of food has affected their health –physically and psychologically because they feel that they are unable to provide their family with food due to unexcited of job or any income sources, but they still have hope. I felt powerless as refugees there because DWN have no fund for our Food Security and Agriculture to provide little.  Despite the situation in the refugees’ camp, the refugees said that they could not return to Darfur, Sudan, because of ongoing genocide because of arrival of new refugees from Darfur due to violence directed against the African tribal groups there.

The DWN appeals to you and calls on those who believe in protection of women, girls, elderly, children, and voluntarily refugees from hunger to help the survivors of genocide in their camps.  It is not late; the irrigation farming is on the way. Establishing small-scale farming and home gardening projects to produce their own food will save lives.