by Erasmus Usongo

21 November 2009

Kassala, Sudan: I came to Sudan last year September as a UNV volunteer with UNHCR in the position of Associate Environment Officer. It was actually a difficult decision but which was driven by my will to volunteer especially on issues concerning the environment.

I was warmly welcomed by UNDP Khartoum and later on introduced to UNHCR Khartoum. After going through the administrative and security briefings, I was deployed to Es Showak as my duty station. I was introduced to all the staff and the relevant implementing partners with whom I was to be working. My mission objectives were refined to meet with immediate demands.

The protracted refugee situation in the east of Sudan has led to rapid loss of vegetation coupled with soil erosion, leading to a continuous decrease in the fertility of the soil.  About 62,000 refugees in 12 active camps are entirely dependent on UNHCR for relief assistance. In collaboration with relevant implementing partners, UNHCR continues to assist the refugee population.

I immediately settled to work with a team of highly qualified, supportive and enthusiastic colleagues. I was given all forms of support to enable me to accomplish my tasks.

My arrival coincided with a change in UNHCR policy towards the refugee operation. The high dependency syndrome of refugees for relief assistance over the past decades necessitated the shift in strategy from care and maintenance to self reliance. In this regards, several strategies have been put in place in enabling refugees to become self-reliant.

Initially, seedling production for reforestation programmes and the management of newly established forest plantations for instance had been carried out with support through the ‘food for work’ programme. In this programme, food aid from WFP to the refugees involved in giving assistance to the reforestation projects was executed through a tripartite agreement between UNHCR, WFP and the Forest National Corporation (FNC), which is the relevant implementing partner for environmental activities. With such a change in policy coupled with the absence of food aid, it became a challenge to initiate the production of seedlings for reforestation programmes.

I facilitated in the setting up of other forms of incentives to encourage the reforestation projects as well as other environmental activities, such as improving mud stoves and liquefied petroleum gases, providing seeds for home gardening and promoting agro forestry. With support from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) we organized workshops and training programmes in a bid in raise awareness about incentives other than food.

This was actually challenging to achieve but so far, more than 300,000 seedlings were successful grown during the last seedling production stage in community nurseries and 924 hectares of land planted with acacia seeds without food aid as an incentive.

To enhance on the exchange of information and demonstration of best practices, I participated in exchange visit programmes targeting different communities. Refugees and their host communities come together to share experiences and difficulties on a wide range of issues such as seedling production, agro forestry, compound tree planting, construction and the use of improved mud stoves, implementation of the community environmental management plan (CEMP) activities as well as other relevant environmental issues.

In collaboration with IUCN, we started assessment of the use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) within and around the refugee camps in Eastern Sudan. Preliminary studies indicate that most of the population in the east of Sudan is rural and heavily dependent on forest products. NTFPs obtained from the forests includes a wide variety of fruits, gums, nuts and tannins which, if well managed and marketed, can improve the self-reliance and livelihoods of refugees and their host communities. Marketing strategies are currently being developed to promote this sector.

Because of the energy crisis faced in the camps, I am currently working on assessing the efficiency of the improved mud stoves in some refugee camps. This survey intends to define the best strategy for using these stoves and other alternative sources of energy. This would help reduce the distances covered by young girls in search of fuel wood, during which time they are exposed to sexual harassment.

In order to plan for effective forest management and restoration projects, I initiated a plan for the mapping of the forest zones established since 1985 and this should start during the first quarter of 2010.

I have learned through out my time as a volunteer that involving the refugees in natural resource management can greatly improve sustainability and promote a sense of ownership and responsibility within the refugee and host communities. Refugees should not be looked upon as a burden to the sustainable use of natural resources, but as important stakeholders who can contribute in bringing positive impacts.