RECOMMENDATIONS TO MITIGATE FOOD INSECURITY

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000491

SIPDIS


STATE FOR AF/C, AF/EPS, PRM AND
USAID FOR RMT, DCHA/OFDA AND DCHA/FFP
DAKAR AND NAIROBI FOR USAID/RFFPO
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF CD SU
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO MITIGATE FOOD INSECURITY
RESULTING FROM DUAL IMPACT OF SUDAN REFUGEES AND DROUGHT
IN EASTERN CHAD

REF: A) NDJAMENA 0020, B) 04 STATE 207288,
C) 04 NDJAMENA 0957


1. This is an action cable. Please see para 8.


2. Summary. The presence in eastern Chad of more than
200,000 Sudanese refugees from the Darfur crisis has
negatively affected the livelihoods and food security of
the host population. In addition there has been meager,
untimely rainfall during the past two growing seasons
and locust attacks on pastureland in 2004. Experts warn
that these combined factors could develop into famine
conditions for eastern Chad in the coming months. UN
agencies, USG and other donors have begun to respond but
there remain gaps in the effort. DART member on
assignment in eastern Chad recommends continued USG
support of the UN agency efforts in favor of local
populations as well as additional mitigation activities
for food security and livelihoods by USAID/DCHA/OFDA and
where appropriate these should be in collaboration with
DOS/BPRM efforts. End summary.


3. Background. The influx of refugees from the Darfur
crisis has significantly and negatively affected the
livelihoods and food security of the host population in
eastern Chad. Two disaster declaration cables in the
past 20 months have highlighted the deleterious impact
that 200,000 Sudanese refugees have had on the fragile
environment of this part of Chad (Reftel A and C).
There is growing food insecurity among the Chadian host
population as a result of sharing scare resources of
water, pasture, firewood and arable land with a refugee
population whose sizeable numbers and accompanying
livestock challenge the supporting capacity of the
area's environment. The USAID famine early warning
system (FEWSNET) recently published an alert of probable
famine conditions developing in eastern Chad with
drought exacerbating the severe pressure that the
refugee presence has on the natural resource base. Rural
Chadians in the area may soon exhaust usual coping
mechanisms such as livestock sales. Particularly at
risk are Wadi Fira (surrounding Biltine, Iriba and
Guereda) in eastern Chad and Kanem in the west. The
situation also has security implications as there are
some tensions between refugee and local populations over
the use of scarce resources in areas around refugee
camps. Nutritional surveys conducted in December 2004
among local Chadian population in the areas around
Treguine and Oure Cassoni camps indicated global acute
malnutrition rates of 14.2% and 21.4% respectively.


4. Food for Peace Officer (FFPO) and member of Darfur
disaster response team (DART),Suzanne Poland, has
completed a six-week TDY in eastern Chad during which
she examined two aspects of the situation: the food aid
response for the vulnerable populations as well as
possible interventions to mitigate the negative effects
the situation has on food security and local
livelihoods. Some recommendations are presented in the
following paragraphs and action requested of OFDA in
paragraph 8 below.


5. Food aid response summary


A. Provisions in new EMOP.

As noted in earlier cable (Ref A) the UN system has
become increasingly attuned to the need for assisting
host country populations and has developed and included
63 project summaries which have been incorporated into
its 2005 consolidated appeal to the donor community. In
addition, the World Food Program conducted November 17-
26, 2004 a rapid food needs assessment of host
populations in the east, resulting in a series of
recommendations to include targeted free distribution to
the most vulnerable groups, school feeding, a program
to assist with seed distribution, and a set of food for
work activities all focusing on the local population.
There are an estimated 722,247 Chadians living in the
six departments where Sudanese refugees have been
relocated:


Department Chad region Sudanese camps

pop.

Ennedi est 28,247 B.E.T. Oure Cassoni
Kobe 44,681 Wadi Fira Iridimi/Touloum/
Am nabak
Dar Tama 73,625 Wadi Fira Kounoungo/Mile
Ouaddai 233,931 Ouaddai
Assongha 160,007 Ouaddai Farchana/Bredjing
Treguine
Sila 181,756 Ouaddai Goz Amer/Djabal

Total 722,247

The proposed free distribution recommended by WFP for
the local population in these departments will target
117,200 persons. In addition, an estimated 32,000
Chadian children will be fed in the school feeding
program. The FFW planning document included in the rapid
food needs assessment projects 3,600 participating
households (approx. 18,000 persons) in food for work
programs. In conjunction with a proposed FAO seeds
distribution, WFP will provide food rations to 23,440
households during the planting season to assure seeds
are planted and not eaten. WFP anticipates
collaboration on seed protection and FFW activities with
NGOs operating in the area, including ACTED, CARE,
SECADEV, InterSOS, GTZ, OXFAM, Premiere Urgence,
Africare and possibly IRD.


B. Food aid activities already on-going for local
population.

The next three months (March to May 2005) are critical
for the local population and for efforts to assist them
in avoiding severe food insecurity and the specter of
famine. Food aid response is underway as of March.
Blanket supplemental feeding continues in villages
surrounding camps with plans to expand to villages more
distant from camps during April. School feeding program
continues through May and some food for work activities
began in late March 2005 with more slated for startup in
April. Seed protection food package should be
distributed to 23,440 families along with seeds from
mid-May to mid-June 2005. Although the new EMOP begins
June 2005, it has already been approved and WFP will use
authority to take advance on EMOP for local purchases of
food if necessary to cover the local population programs
until June 2005.

The re-registration process undertaken in all the
refugee camps during February and March identified a
number of Chadians from surrounding areas who had
registered in camp in order to benefit from the food
aid. The re-registration process includes new ration
cards and photo identification cards. Although the
Chadians in the camps will not receive either a new card
or a photo ID, WFP and UNHCR have agreed that these
families may keep their old ration cards and these will
still be valid to access the food aid through September

2005. However in Goz Beida, Djabal camp, many Chadians
in the camp were required to give up their rations cards
during the re-registration process. WFP is working out
how to make sure that vulnerable families in surrounding
villages who had ration cards can still receive food
through the camp distributions until September 2005.


C. Pre-positioning of food aid.

Between March and June 2005, WFP plans to pre-position a
three-month supply of commodities sufficient to feed
both refugees and vulnerable host population in eastern
Chad. Eastern Chad will also be a transit zone for
significant tonnage of commodities arriving through the
Libyan corridor destined for pre-positioning in the
Darfur region of Sudan. WFP has steadily improved the
delivery system of commodities to eastern Chad.
Although the slow delivery of commodities during 2004
has resulted in an average distribution of less than
optimum kilocalorie level during the past months, the
March 2005 distribution for refugees included a complete
30-day ration of 2100 kcal. WFP plans to maintain this
speedier pace of regular weekly delivery of commodities
via the Douala corridor and Libyan corridor and through
eastern Chad from March until arrival of the rains make

roads impassable for heavy trucks. Thus the outlook
seems favorable for WFP to pre-position sufficient food
commodities to cover both refugee and vulnerable local
populations n eastern Chad before the rains begin. The
prosect for successfully pre-positioning the majority
of the required commodities for internally displacd
persons in Darfur by road through Chad is less
promising. Once the rains begin WFP special opeation
plans to airlift from Al Khoufra whatever ommodities
could not be moved by road.


D. Overight of food aid program in eastern Chad.

The Embassy prefers and recommends that one person be
designated to oversee the food aid in eastern Chad and
that the same person make the oversight temporary duty
visits. It is less effective to send a different person
each trip because each new person that is sent must be
briefed and get up to speed before they can effectively
accomplish the task. The same person returning on a
regular basis could effectively build on knowledge from
previous visits.


6. Recommended activities to mitigate effect of refugee
influx and drought on food security and livelihoods of
Chadian population


A. Seeds and tools distribution.

FAO has not yet received financing for a proposed seeds
and tools distribution for the 2005/2006 growing season
even though WFP has included food rations to protect the
proposed seeds in the new EMOP. DART member Poland
recommends that OFDA consider funding a program
providing seeds only (no tools) to 23,440 agropastoral
families in the affected areas for rainfed millet and
sorghum and vegetable seed for 4,000 families for off-
season production in the amount of approximately
$300,000. Consensus of Ministry of Agriculture officials
and local administration and farmers is that tools are
not needed.

FAO does not have a representative based in the eastern
Chad affected area so to more efficiently execute the
program it is recommended that the logistics of moving
and distributing the seeds be done through WFP in
conjunction with the seed protection food rations with
FAO providing technical assistance for the purchase of
the seeds. If available, some improved seeds of short
season millet variety should be included in the package
especially for Wadi-Fira area.

The FAO and WFP must assure that quality seeds are
purchased and that they are distributed along with the
seed protection ration in a transparent manner to
vulnerable households with the means to use them and the
seeds must be available to households by mid-May in the
south through mid-June in the north.

If not already under consideration, recommend that
DOS/BPRM consider funding an additional quantity of
seeds and tools to cover refugee families in camps who
may have access to land mainly in the Goz Beida area.
InterSOS worked with 5,000 refugee families last year in
a seed distribution program and this would be a
manageable number for the current season. Tools should
be included because the refugees are less likely to have
tools with them. The same mechanism through FAO and WFP
could be used for procurement and distribution of seeds
for refugees as for local populations however funding
through UNHCR is an option also. ECHO is funding a
small program with seeds for 500 refugee families around
Treguine camp with Premiere Urgence.


B. Food security interventions

The food aid measures and seeds distribution are
important for the immediate response but restoration of
some water, soil and tree resources and prevention of
further environmental degradation is imperative to
prevent widespread food insecurity in coming years and
to provide productive capacity and asset building.
Recommend that OFDA consider proposals from NGOs
Africare, and International Relief and Development to

conduct developmental relief activities that combine
water and soil interventions, natural resource
conservation and stewardship with food security and
livelihood activities.

Abeche to Adre area

Africare's proposed program would directly affect 40,000
households and focus on wells, livestock watering ponds,
soil-water-harvesting systems in the Abeche to Adre band
surrounding the three camps of Farchana, Treguine and
Breidjine and the area for the new camp of Gaga.
Africare has a Title II DAP program in this area funded
by USAID/FFP through 2008. The DAP program with check
dams has been very successful. Villagers participating
in the program have become food secure with water for
crop production, livestock and off-season income-
generating vegetable production in as short a time as
one year. The check dams slow the flow of the water
through the wadis during the rainy season enough so that
the water can infiltrate the soil, recharge the aquifers
and also deposit soil that has been eroded from areas
upstream. Recommend that OFDA provide funds for
Africare to expand this program in order to reach more
villages in the coming year. Currently the DAP has
3,000 hectares rehabilitated in the check dam system,
affecting the livelihoods of more than 30,000 families.

SECADEV (CRS) and two local NGOs request support from
OFDA for materials to complement the food for work
activities they will carry out with local populations in
the Farchana and Adre areas. These are small requests
and the three together should not exceed $25,000.
Recommend one umbrella grant with an international NGO
such as CRS or Africare to fund all three of the local
NGOs.

Iriba and Guereda area (Wadi-Fira)

Wadi-Fira province is the most at risk of developing
famine conditions in the coming months. Last year Iriba
recorded only 84 mm of rainfall compared to normal
average of 350 mm. International Relief and Development
is an NGO with mostly Asian and eastern European
experience looking to startup activities in Chad. IRD
has proposed to establish in the Iriba-Guereda area with
water, livestock, NRM activities and a mobile health
unit covering approximately 70,000 individuals or about
14,000 households.

Recommend that IRD begin smaller and cover only Iriba
area villages and target 25,000 to 30,000 people or
about 6,000 households. Some of the villages in the
Guereda area were previously covered by local NGO
SECADEV and they may resume food for work and other food
security activities in the coming year. IRD would need
to become functional very quickly in order to have an
impact in this current food security emergency
situation.

Bahai area

The Ambassador's disaster allowance of $50,000 was
granted to ACTED to complement food for work activities
in Bahai. Recommend increasing the grant level to ACTED
so that the food for work activities around Bahai and
Oure Cassoni camp can be effectively carried out -
approximately $100,000 to $150,000 additional funding
required to provide vehicle and technical supervision
necessary in the harsh environment of Bahai. ACTED
currently understaffed and will not have capacity to
implement food security activities if vacant positions
of country director and logistics officer are not filled
very soon. Note that ACTED logistics officer arrived in
mid-march in Bahai. ACTED must coordinate water
activities and any agricultural activities around Lake
Carriari with International Rescue Committee, the lead
for wat/san sector in the Oure Cassoni camp near Bahai.
There are some concerns about ACTED proposed livestock
watering activities near the water treatment plant for
the refugee camp.

Kanem province

Kanem province in western Chad is also cited by FEWSNET
as a probable area where famine conditions could
develop. Action Contre la Faim (ACF) had a mother and
child nutrition program in Kanem for 20 years but closed
the program in 2003 because there was no measurable
impact on the malnutrition situation after 20 years. A
local NGO continued the supplemental feeding program
until the arrival of the Sudanese refugees. WFP needed
to mobilize food stocks in country to feed the influx of
refugees and suspended its development program in the
interim. The Kanem supplemental feeding program should
start up again as soon as the country program resumes
and if the local NGO still has the capacity to
implement. A food aid response is the only recommended
action at this point. ACF is not interested in
reentering Kanem and no other international NGOs are
present.


7. Peace Corps Volunteer secondary projects.

There are possibilities for collaboration with US Peace
Corps in some areas where food for work and
developmental relief activities would be funded. Some
Peace Corps education volunteers might be interested in
pursuing secondary projects involving implementation of
food for work and developmental relief activities with
NGOs during the school break period May through October.
This could assist some NGOs having problems with timely
recruitment of personnel. In cases where an NGO can
work out a satisfactory scope of work with PC/Chad and
in areas where security situation is acceptable for
volunteer placement, DCHA/OFDA may need to consider
modest additions to NGO funding requests in order to
provide accommodations and transport for participating
volunteer(s) during a 2 to 3 month period.



8. Actions requested for OFDA Darfur RMT

In order for there to be sufficient time for some of the
water storage and availability interventions such as
well cleaning, well construction, water storage and
livestock watering to be implemented in time to profit
from the rains these recommendations should be reviewed,
decisions made and implemented immediately. If at all
possible grant instruments should be in place by mid to
late April. The interventions should be approved for
at least 12-month period so that there are even more
beneficial results before the arrival of the subsequent
rainy season in June/July 2006.

Suggest that regional OFDA and FFP Officers could
include oversight of these recommended food security
activities in their regular scheduling of visits in the
region. OFDA should clarify if eastern Chad remains
under jurisdiction of REDSO for these interventions
related to pressure of Darfur refugee presence and
drought.

WALL


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