Coping strategies of the displaced women for achieving food security at the household level in Mayo Camp, Khartoum State.

Coping strategies of the displaced women for achieving food security at the household level in Mayo Camp, Khartoum State. Abstract The objective of the study was to investigate the participation ofdisplaced women in food security at the household level in Mayo Camp inKhartoum State. The study also identified the displaced women's problems intheir coping strategies to meet their basic needs. The accidental sample method was adopted to select 82 respondentsfrom Southern and Western Sudan. The results obtained indicated that all of the displaced womenlived in extremely poor conditions, characterized by high illiteracyrates, large numbers of dependents, and very low income. The study also revealed that the displaced women were compelled towork to earn money, to meet their household basic needs. This is becauseof the absence of the husbands as breadwinners. The displaced womenadopted different coping strategies to meet the basic needs of theirfamilies. These strategies included, purchase of food on credit, relyingon help from the neighborhood, relief assistance from organizations,begging, skipping days without eating, alcohol brewing and sex selling. The study concluded that the displaced women constituted thebackbone that supported the food security at the household level, and insome cases they were completely responsible for the family welfare andother household needs. The role of the Government in food security forthe displaced women was minimal and so were the NGOs. The latter wereonly concerned with provision of services. The study recommended provision of income generating activities forthe displaced women. Government departments and the NGOs should involvethe displaced women in the planning and implementation of thedevelopment activities. Introduction Sudan is described as one of the poorest countries in the world.Estimates from various sources indicated that over 90% of the populationlive below the poverty line (United Nations Country Team and Governmentof Sudan, 2004). Due to the past civil war in the southern parts of the country andthe recent armed conflict in Darfur States, in addition to the periodicdroughts during the 1980s and early 1990s, millions of rural communitiesmigrated to the northern urban centers. This was mainly for work as wagelabor to obtain their food. Considerable numbers of those migrantstargeted Khartoum State to live in the periphery of Khartoum City. It isargued that the displaced people there are suffering severely becausethey live in poor shelters, extreme poverty, are in poor health and lacksocial services (UNDP, 2001). In 1991, the concerned government authorities demolished theillegal settlements and relocated hundreds of thousands of the displacedpopulation to four official camps namely: Dar-El-Salam, Wad El-Bashierin Omdurman area, Mayo and El-Salam Jebel Aulia Camps in Khartoum area.The displaced people received assistance from the government through itsconcerned departments and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) interms of relief, social services, and training for capacity building andprovision of income generating activities. The displaced ruralcommunities, lacking the necessary skills to find suitable jobs in theformal sector, were compelled to join the informal sector as pettytraders, janitors and became involved in illegal activities ( localliquor brewing) to earn money to meet their family needs. Among thecommunities, the displaced women were the most vulnerable group of thepopulation (UNDP, 2001). This is because they had major responsibilitiesto secure food at the household level. These responsibilities compelledthe displaced women to face huge challenges. Thus, they developed theirown coping strategies to deal with the situation. These strategiesincluded food selling, sex selling, local alcohol brewing, tea selling,domestic service ... etc. Justification The role of displaced women in household food security in KhartoumState with particular reference to displaced communities has not beeninvestigated. Therefore, this study is an attempt to see to what extentdisplaced women managed to reduce and avoid food shortage at thehousehold level in Mayo camp in Khartoum State. Objectives of the Research To conduct situation analysis of displaced women and identifyproblems and needs. To identify displaced women's coping strategies (economicactivities) to meet their basic needs for the achievement of householdfood security. To investigate to what extent the displaced women had copingstrategies that assisted the displaced people to reduce and/or avoidfood shortage at the household level and their community. To make recommendations which may assist the NGOs, planners,decision makers and the concerned government authorities to developstrategies for better community development. Methodology Study Design: The research was community based and mainly a quantitative surveywith some personal observations Study area: The study area was Mayo Camp in Khartoum State. Target Group: Displaced Women in Mayo camp Sampling procedure: The accidental sample method was used because it was impossible toreach all the population in the studied area. Data Collection Methods: Primary data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire as themain tool of data collection, in addition to personal observation.Secondary data were obtained from published and unpublished sources. Sample size: The quantitative survey included 82 respondents who werepurposefully selected. Data Analysis: Data were analyzed by using the computer programme of theStatistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results werepresented in tables of frequency and percentage. Results and discussion: In this study, the majority of the respondents were withineconomically active age groups: (69%) 18 -46 years, (27%) 31-45 and only4% were 64 and above (Table l).All of the respondents were from Westernand Southern Sudan (Table2). Seventy nine percent (79%) of the respondents were illiterate andonly 21% had khalwa or primary education (Table3). Eighty two percent (82%) of the respondents were married (Table 4).More than half (53%) of the respondents had families with 5-8 and 23%with 9 or more. This was mainly because it was observed that most of therespondents had relatives other than the immediate family memberssharing with them food and accommodation (Table5). However, many ofthese resident dependents were old people and children. The majority (95%) of the respondents had very low or low monthlyincome (100-300SDG) as in table 6. The study also revealed that the main causes of displacement of therespondents from their place of origin (Table7) were the civil war(60%), drought and famine (40%). Sixty three percent (63%) of the respondents admitted that womenwere completely responsible for the household security (Table8), beingthe main bread winners. Ninety five percent (95%) of the respondents worked in informalsectors, including food and\or tea selling (35%), housemaids (35%) andillegal activities such as sex and\or alcohol selling (25%). The tablealso indicates that a few (5%) of the respondents worked in the formalsector as janitors (Tablel0). This is beside their daily routine work inthe house (i.e. cooking, child and elderly care). While 37% of therespondents shared food security with children, men were usually sittingidle during the day. Considerable numbers of displaced women werecompelled to work because of the disappearance of their husbands asbreadwinners due to divorce, widowing, having another wife, and/orspending their money in drinking local beer (Marisa). To cope with theirdifficult situation, they adopted different "coping" means tomeet the basic needs for their families. Fifty nine percent (59%)purchase food on credit, 17% sex and alcohol selling, 11% begging, 6%rely on help from their neighborhood, 5% skip entire days withouteating, and 2% rely on relief assistance from organizations (Table 10). Ninety two percent (92%) of the respondents reported that they didnot receive any aid from the concerned government authorities (i.e.Zakat, Social Development, Welfare Cooperation or others). The role ofgovernment in food security for the displaced people was minimal (Table11). The study has also showed that 92% of the respondents benefitedfrom the NGOs in the form of services such as education, extension ofpotable water, training, curative approaches and nutrition (Table 12). Conclusions and Recommendations: The displaced women constituted the backbone of food security atthe household level, and in some cases were completely responsible forthe family welfare and other household needs. The displaced women adopted different coping strategies to meet thebasic needs of their families. These strategies included, purchase offood on credit, relying on help from their neighborhood, reliefassistance from organizations, begging, skipping entire days withouteating, alcohol brewing and sex selling. The role of Government in food security for the displaced women wasminimal and so were the NGOs. Therefore, the concerned Government departments and the NGOs shoulddevelop and introduce policies that facilitate access to basic needs,such as: improvement of services (education, health care, water supplyand vocational training). Provision of income generating activities for the displaced women.Involvement and participation of the displaced women in the planning andimplementation of the development activities. References: A, Babiker (2002):The socio-economic Aspects of Tribal Conflictsand their Impacts on Rural Development Process.M.Sc. Thesis. Universityof Khartoum Algamir A. and Arora P. (1991): Providing Food Security forAll. Published for IFAD, Publications London. Elmaleih M. Ahmed (2003):Food Security Early Warring InformationSystem Towards Livelihood of Rural Inhabitants: Case study CARE in Westand North Kordofan State.M.Sc. Thesis. University of Khartoum Carbelt (1988): Famine and Household Coping Strategies:WorldDevelopment Report 1988. 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Kawthar Mohemmad Daud, Assistant Editor, Ahfad Journal AhfadUniversity for WomenTable(1): Distribution of respondents by age groupAge group Frequency %18-30 57 6931-45 22 2764 and above 3 4Total. 82 100Table (2): Frequency Distribution of respondents by Place of OriginRegion Frequency %Southern Sudan 36 44Western Sudan 46 56Total 82 100Table (3): Distribution of respondents by level of educationLevel Frequency %Illiterate 65 79Khalwa 8 10Primary 9 11Intermediate 0 0Secondary 0 0University 0 0Total 82 100Table (4): Distribution of respondents by martial statusMarital status Frequency %Widow 4 5Married 67 82Divorced 5 6Single 6 7Total 82 100Table (5): Distribution of respondents by family sizeNo. of Household Members Frequency %1-4 30 245-8 43 539--and above 19 23Total 82 100Table (6): Distribution of respondents by monthly income categoryMonthly income in SDG Frequency %Less than 100-200 61 84201-300 9 11301 and over 4 5Total 82 100Table (7): Distribution of respondents by reasons of displacementCauses of Displacement Frequency %Civil war 49 60Drought and famine 33 40Total 82 100Table (8): Distribution of respondents by responsibilitiesto secure food for the familyResponse Frequency %Women 52 63Women + Men + Children 30 37Total 82 100Table (9): Distribution of respondents according to occupation bysectionType/Section Frequency %Food selling + Tea 29 35sellingHousemaid 29 35Janitors 4 5Sex and Alcohol selling 20 25Total 82 100Table (10): Distribution of respondents by some coping strategiesto secure foodType Frequency %Purchase food on credit 48 59Rely on help from neighborhoods 5 6Organizations (relief) 2 2sex selling and alcohol selling 14 17Skip entire days without eating 4 5Begging 9 11Total 82 100Table (11): Distribution of respondents according to extentof benefit from the Government assistanceClassification Frequency %Respondents benefiting form government assistance 5 6Respondents not benefiting form government assistance 75 92In different 2 5Total 82 100Table (12): Distribution of respondents according to extentof benefit from NGOs assistanceClassification Frequency %Respondents benefiting form 75 92organization assistanceRespondents not benefiting from 7 8organization assistanceTotal 82 100