Coping and Change in Protracted Conflict: The Role of Community Groups and Local Institutions in Addressing Food Insecurity and Threats to Livelihoods

This Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) Working Paper, published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), presents the findings of a study carried out in Northern Darfur in November and December 2009 on the role of community-based organisations and groups, as well as local institutions more generally, in addressing food security and threats to livelihoods in places with lengthy periods of conflict. The study was funded by Christian Aid, hosted by Practical Action, and carried out in collaboration with the Darfur Relief and Reconstruction Agency.

The findings of this study show that there are a number of ways in which local organisations or institutions can contribute positively to food security and livelihoods in places like Darfur, where 7 years of violence have caused displacement and restricted movement, trade, and access to markets and land. For example, neutrality and impartiality can be promoted by working with community-based organisations (CBOs) to involve them in services including monitoring, training, and extension. (The excerpt below highlights these positive findings.) But ultimately, the author finds, "the creation of an accountable and effective civil society requires trust, faith in the future and a secure environment in which human rights are respected." She claims that, in the current context in Darfur, community-based approaches will not be able to address the scale or severity of food insecurity or threats to livelihoods. She says that, instead, "[a] combination of approaches is needed, bringing together more traditional forms of relief and innovative ways of generating income and improving access to land and markets."

An excerpt from the report follows:
"...The establishment of CBO networks has been particularly successful, not only because this enables continued access to rural areas by remote management, but also because the mix of tribes and villages within the networks gives them a valuable negotiation and dispute settlement role. An important feature of both the pre-conflict CBOs and of the networks is that they are heterogeneous in terms of ethnic groups and livelihoods....There are also examples of 'needs-specific committees' established on communities' own initiative to negotiate agreements between opposing tribes in response to specific problems such as access to land, markets or water. Women's groups have played prominent roles during the conflict, particularly as neutral mediators and negotiators....Skills training and income generation through women's groups or youth groups have been less successful. People are not able to use the skills they have learnt because they do not have the materials to turn them into income, the skills they learn are not in demand (e.g. handicrafts and food processing) or they cannot compete with skilled urban labour, e.g. in masonry and mechanics. Income-generating projects in heterogeneous groups is rarely successful because group members do not know each other well and do not feel that they can set up businesses together....Income generation in groups works best with people from the same area of origin or tribe, who come together to meet specific income needs and in some cases have pre-existing skills..."