Taking Practical Action in Sudan

In the western world 'energy efficiency' is a buzz term. Companies and environmentalists use it to refer to practices which will, in the long-term, help to prevent dangerous climate change and make good economic sense. In Darfur energy efficiency is a matter of survival.

Practical Action (PA) is a charity based in the UK, founded by E.F.Schumacher author of 'Small is Beautiful'. The approach PA takes is one of long term sustainability, which is often lacking in other NGO’s. It is particularly focused on technology's role in the alleviation of poverty, rather than its consequences. We spoke with the Country Director, Mohamed Majzoub Fidiel in Khartoum and with the staff at the Eastern Sudan office in Kassala, in order to better understand the work PA does and the environmental challenges Sudan faces.

PA has been working for twenty years in North Darfur where wood is the only viable source of fuel for cooking. With the ongoing conflicts women who collect wood are extremely vulnerable to attacks by militias which can result in beatings, rape, mutilation and murder. It is important therefore to minimise the amount of time they are required to collect wood. Energy efficiency is therefore crucial for Darfurian women. With specialist local knowledge PA have developed a cooking stove made with local clay which is extremely energy efficient and can be moulded into individual pots. PA have then trained local people to teach others the relatively simple process of creating these stoves. Through their village networks this knowledge has spread through the region.

The benefit of these stoves in Darfur is very specific as due to the war, people may be forced to leave their homes. The ability to create new cooking equipment from local materials is therefore invaluable. Other charities in the area are trying to promote mass produced efficient stoves which are proving successful under other conditions. However, in Darfur they are inappropriate for the situation because they are expensive and significantly less efficient. The local knowledge that PA utilises is vitally important as in these situations a 'one size fits all' approach is not the most effective. In Darfur PA is also helping by encouraging tree planting of native species and fruit trees providing shelter, food, fuel and potential income.

PA’s work is about more than just survival, it is about development. PA is making markets work for people in Darfur by improving their ability to sell their crops on the domestic and international market. Case in point is hibiscus, which is estimated currently at only 19% of its optimum productivity. By providing a very simple technological tool from Thailand: essentially a small metal pipe, the harvesting process is improved. This improvement allows the farmers to increase the quality of their crop and as a result its market value is increased by 30%. Darfurian farmers have modified the tool to make it more efficient in their environment and are now sharing this knowledge with one another with PA's help

Climate change is a reality in Darfur, the question of whether or not the finger can be pointed at man made emissions for its cause is an impossible and slightly irrelevant one, but the necessity for adaptation to a changing climate is unquestionable. PA is helping local people to better utilise the natural resources available to them. In Darfur PA are focusing upon water, the drought being a contributing factor to the ongoing conflict. The ability given to people by PA to manage their resources properly means they can be sustained long-term.

PA stresses the most important part of its work is capacity building inside villages and creating networks of villages, as well as empowering women by training them in management skills which can therefore allow them an income. This in turn reduces their vulnerability and means in many cases they no longer need the direct support of PA who can rarely travel to the area due to recent attacks upon their staff. Evidence of this includes the fact that villages have been fundraising for themselves, raising over $1 million for their schools.

Through discussions of Sudan's general environmental situation it became apparent how vulnerable the population is to the effects of the climate, most evidently in the form of drought or floods. There is anecdotal evidence that deforestation has also had a major effect in Sudan, resulting in changing rainfall patterns. It seems people are far more aware of the changes in their environment because of their immediate reliance upon it. It directly provides them with food, shelter and fuel.

There is a history of poor environmental management in Sudan which has caused significant problems. Just forty years ago the area near the border with Ethiopia was considered extremely agriculturally rich and it is now semi-desert. In the late 80's there was a significant drought in Sudan so the government decided to plant misquite trees to prevent desertification. While it succeeded in achieving this goal the misquite tree is an alien species that grows extremely rapidly and severely impairs the ability of other plants to grow. Because of the very deep nature of the roots it is also extremely hard to remove. Massive clearance programmes are being undertaken and people are having to adapt to use these trees for charcoal even though it is far poorer quality than traditional wood used. The legacy of these decisions taken decades ago with the best of intentions is causing significant hardship for people today.

All over Sudan people are vulnerable, partly due to conflicts affecting the west, east and south of the country but also largely due to poor environmental management and a changing climate. The work PA is doing in all these areas is vitally important and their utilisation of local knowledge and long-term thinking means their programmes are achieving great success.

For more information on Practical Actions work in Sudan please go to: http://www.practicalaction.org/?id=region_sudan