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Report 6 (of 6): Trading on
Tradition - Sudan
Introduction
In Sudan, Africa's largest country,
the poverty levels are estimated to be as high as
92 per cent of the population. Low capacity in the
country's productive sectors, border tensions, civil
war, the harsh climate and natural environment, and
lack of international support are all factors that
challenge people's ability to survive. A food processing
project is a great example of how simple techniques
can unlock women's potential, giving them practical
skills to become self-sufficient and in so doing transforming
their economic and social status.
Civil war has raged in Sudan since
1955, displacing millions of Sudanese who live alongside
millions of other refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea.
This influx and instability has caused changes in
cultural patterns; traditional social structures have
been eradicated, the population is largely illiterate,
culturally alienated and no longer able to make a
living from subsistence farming. Many women have had
to become self-sufficient, feeding themselves and
their family, when their husbands have been killed
in the war or have migrated to the cities in search
of work. The move to towns is an increasing trend
that people are poorly equipped to deal with. Many
of those who migrate find it difficult to get a job
without specific skills; unemployment is close to
60 per cent and only 10 per cent of the population
finds work in the formal sector and so most struggle
to feed themselves and their families.
Widespread urban poverty is compounded
by:
- Disintegration of traditional leadership,
social networks and community-based safety nets
such as the extended family
- Environmental problems including
insufficient and poor quality water, and little
or no waste management
- Lack of sanitation, causing widespread
disease, diarrhoea, typhoid, food poisoning and
other ailments which afflict women and children
most.
Women are particularly marginalised
in this setting, as traditional cultural norms and
institutional practices are conservative and extremely
gendered. Women have been traditionally restricted
to domestic and reproductive roles. Discrimination
in the formal sector is based on perceived high costs
of employment and lack of skills among women. To secure
some income women must seek opportunities in the informal
sector where they fall foul of discriminatory legislation,
low wages and hostile public attitudes.
Small-scale Food Processing
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Layla training women in food processing
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In Kassala, there are lots of
vegetable. In the tomato season, for example,
there would be a surplus of tomatoes - so instead
of letting them be wasted I would train people
living around me how to preserve them in season
in the form of either paste or chips. Then,
in the onion growing season we trained people
to chop and dry them, to keep them for the season
when there are no onions. Accordingly, each
and every house in Kassala has gained a lot
from the programme.
Similarly in Kassala, there is a season for
fruits such as mangoes, which we cut into
chips or turn into juice or jam. Guavas as
well, you can make them into jam to feed children
in schools and kindergartens. We also have
a season for pumpkins. I think a lot of people
make use of this and even women working in
institutions can process jams so as to have
something for breakfast.
In each and every district, state or village
where I trained women, I encouraged them to
work together. I would have a group of 20
and divide them into 4 groups of 5 and each
group could have their own products to make
in the area where they live. For example,
in some places there is milk and they could
sell this to another group, which can then
process this to make cheese and yoghurt and
sell it back to the first group. This process
is changing the relationship between women
in addition to the economic benefits.
LAYLA Gibril GUMMA, National Trainer and
Co-ordinator
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ITDG's work with women in Sudan began
in training in food processing skills to achieve food
security. Traditionally, women undertake all food
processing and preservation and so are the most suitable
target audience for outside agencies to train in food
processing. Women's role as food provider is challenging;
without any means of refrigeration techniques millions
of people often go hungry.
The project started in 1994 when a
training of trainers course was launched and more
than 40 trainers graduated. The training covers skills
for processing around fifty different products such
as dairy products, baking, sweets, pasta, meat, jams
and juices, and techniques such as dehydration and
fermentation. Some local authorities provided women
with places where they can receive training, such
as centres, where they can base their activities and
childcare is supported.
Preservation techniques which enable
women to counter the seasonal lack of food were introduced.
Fermentation, dehydration and drying, salting and
other methods have been invented, improved and upgraded
by women. This met people's own family needs and provided
a surplus which could be sold.
ITDG Sudan worked with a number of
women's groups to provide training in agro-processing
technologies and management; support to the small
business through provision of packing materials, equipment
and marketing assistance. A total of over 14,000 were
trained in agro-processing skills, covering urban
settings as well as rural areas, in Kassala, Gedarif
and other parts of the country.
Developing Trade
Employment opportunities are very
limited, so small-scale food processing is a potential
area for growth and is relatively easy to set up.
This is because of the small capital investment, availability
of raw materials and accessibility of local market.
The roadside on which the women's stalls now have
pride of place |
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Crucial to the success of successful
business development was securing a legal place in the
market to sell the food. Previously, many women were
being harassed by police over selling produce illegally
and were subsequently removed from the traditional market
areas. Through persistent and collective lobbying, ITDG
and the women were granted licences for market stalls.
Now they have their own stalls in several locations
and are successfully lobbying local authorities for
many more.
| Lulla Mohammed saw her life
improve after participating in one of ITDG Sudan's
food processing courses in Kassala.
A widow in her mid-forties with a ten-year-old
daughter, Lulla realised that the income from
her job as an office cleaner was hardly sufficient
to support her family. But after undergoing
ITDG training, she started processing food
and trying to sell her products to bring in
additional money, with encouraging initial
results.
Lulla joined the Kassala Women's Development
Centre (KWDC), participated in sales exhibitions
and shared her experience with fellow members.
She managed to purchase a pasta machine that
she uses at home.
Now considered something of
a pasta specialist, she is still producing a
variety of other processed food items, including
dehydrated onions and garlic, artificially flavoured
juices, tomato paste and jams. Gaining a good
reputation as a quality producer, she has become
adept at meeting special requests from customers
for different products or for special occasions,
and actively sells her products at exhibitions
within and outside Kassala.
Improved food processing skills have given
Lulla confidence in the future and an increased
sense of security. She is managing to make
monthly savings, pay her daughter's school
fees, has acquired a donkey-drawn cart for
transporting her products, and is securing
enough food, mainly dehydrated products, to
feed her family during the off-season periods.
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Women's Development Associations
- WDAs
As a result of the training programme
a number of WDAs were established. The technical training
encouraged the women to organise themselves into groups
to make produce collectively for the market. The productive
groups then developed into associations and community-based
organisations in order to support poor women in their
areas. ITDG provided organisational and management
training to help build the capacity of associations,
as well as facilitating the acquisition of premises
and productive equipment.
WDAs are community-based organisations
who represent some of the most disadvantaged groups
in the eastern region; membership is drawn from some
of the poorest groups. Women members are predominantly
displaced, widowed or divorced. Members pay a nominal
membership fee and participate in annual WDA general
assemblies for consultation to elect an executive
committee, whoset out policies and plans, pass
constitutions, define roles and financial regulations.
The executive committee is responsible for planning,
day-to-day management, including monitoring and reporting
and co-ordination with government and non-governmental
institutions with similar objectives. Some WDAs are
formally registered and others are in the process
of registration. As officially registered charitable
organisations WDAs are obliged to have a bank account
and annual audit with narrative reports delivered
to the annual assembly meeting.
The women who established WDAs have
come to value these organisations as a means to exchange
ideas on practical solutions, support collective action,
increase access to services and as a vehicle to 'demand
rather than beg their rights'. The food-processing
project provided relevant and suitable ground for
co-operation and networking between the concerned
bodies. To increase the impact of the project, ITDG
built partnerships with the public sector, which governs
all activities within Sudan and is able to provide
support in return. WDAs act as pressure groups to
communicate with local authorities about, for example,
the need to grant women legal rights in the market
place. At the national level, WDAs enable women to
participate in state conferences and so influence
national development debates.
Strengthening the capacity of the
WDAs is pivotal to ensuring the continued and sustained
power and independence of the women.The project aims
to deliver:
- Economic independence through increased
access and control over production factors, services
and facilities and effective management of income
generation activities
- Formal recognition of WDAs
- Clear mandates, organisational
roles and management systems
- Training in leadership, advocacy
and lobbying, financial and business management
- Organising workshops to share skills
and enhance innovation
- Studying markets for preserved
food and diversifying opportunities
- Accessing credit and other resources
to encourage innovation
- Exchange visits between WDAs and
other women's groups - to increase outreach and
attract more women to join, building their confidence
to articulate their needs.
Evidence of Impact
The impact of the small-scale food
processing is immediate: people have food to eat when
otherwise they would not. The impact of developing
skills in production and marketing, creating linkages
with formal structures, has initiated small businesses.
Women can sell their own knowledge to others, providing
training courses in new locations or sell their produce.
Recorded effects include:
- Improved food security and diet
- women become more aware of the nutritional value
of food
- Increased incomes
- Improved access to credit, marketable
skills and information increasing productivity and
reputation
- Access to basic services: health
care, education and shelter
- Stronger social support networks,
based on newly built trust, resulting in increased
security for individuals and households
- Changes in gender relations in
households such as greater physical mobility and
influence in decision making for women (greater
decision-making powers within and outside the household).
Training in food processing skills,
processes and equipment has enabled over 9000 Sudanese
women to greatly reduce the levels of hunger they
and their families experience. Over 600 women have
established small businesses selling processed foods.
Their success in meeting practical needs has increased
recognition by the broader community of the role they
play in society. Their own confidence has increased
and, coupled with new knowledge, given women the ability
to lobby for changes in more strategic arenas; for
example, changes in the rules governing women's access
to trade in the market place. Changes in laws and
attitudes are slow to occur and hard to secure. Ongoing
efforts to bring about change mean the Women's Development
Associations are working to meet daily needs and the
long-term aspirations of this and future generations.
Acknowledgements
ITDG would like to thank ITDG Sudan
for providing information to produce this case study.
Further Information
Hands On
Series 1:
Spice
Processing - Uruguay;
Snack
Attack - Bangladesh
Series 2:
Cashew
Processing in Gampaha - Sri Lanka,
Food Works
ITDG Sudan
Postal address: P.O. Box 4172, Khartoum, Sudan
Street address: 43/2 AB Khartoum South, Al QASR Janoub
Avenue, South of Algorashi Park, Khartoum
Tel: +249 11 460 419
Fax: +249 11 472002
E-mail: itsd@sudanmail.net
Telex: 984 22190 ACROP SD
ITDG hosts multiple technical briefs on a range of
food processing techniques
http://www.itdg.org/
Article
on the WDA project
List of women's organisations globally and in Sudan
www.eruonet.nl
New Sudan Women Federation
Address: P. O. Box 12109 - 00100 GPO
Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel: +254-2-577529/30/31/568478
Fax: +254-2-577531/29
E-mail: nswf@todays.co.ke
http://www.gurtong.net/charity/NSWF.html
The Gender Centre
Khartoum - Sudan
Tel: +249-11-474588 / 481390
The General Union for the Sudanese Women
P.O.Box; 1072 Khartoum Sudan
Telefax:+249-11- 785749/
Cell Phone +249-12993997
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United
Nations exists to raise levels of nutrition and
standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity,
and to better the condition of rural populations.
http://www.fao.org/
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome
Italy
Tel: +39 06 5705 1
Fax: +39 06 5705 3152
Telex: 625852/610181 FAO I /
Cable address: FOODAGRI ROME
E-mail: FAO-HQ@fao.org
http://www.fao.org/
Small-scale Food Processing: A guide to appropriate
equipment
Peter Fellows and Ann Hampton
£24.95 ITDG Publishing ISBN: 1853391085 Published
1992 2000
Provides information on the major food-processing
technologies, divided by food group, including sugar
confectionery, milk, meat and cereal-based products.
Catalogues the necessary equipment, manfacturers and
product details, and prices
Starting a Small Food Processing Enterprise
Peter Fellows, Ernesto Franco and Walter Rios
£10.95 ITDG Publishing ISBN: 1853393231 Published
1996 2003
A training aid for extension workers and small enterprise
development organisations, explaining the necessary
technological and business skills. The emphasis is
on thorough planning before the enterprise is established
and then careful control of production to minimise
costs and maintain the desired product quality.
Training in Food Processing: Successful approaches
Mike Battcock, Sue Azam-Ali and Peter Fellows
£12.95 ITDG Publishing ISBN: 1853394254 Published
1998 2003
How to provide effective training in food processing,
and so open up opportunities for individuals who lack
business experience, covering needs assessment, course
preparation, monitoring and follow-up, and the value
of practical work and opportunities for trainers to
discuss their ideas and discoveries. With examples
of forms and lesson plans, photographs of appropriate
training environments, practical case studies and
details of institutions that support food processing
training.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) and ITDG
There are 11 books on different aspects of food production
. All available in English, French and Portuguese.
Available from either UNIFEM or ITDG Publishing
UNIFEM
304 45th East St, 6th floor
New York
NY 10017
USA
ITDG Publishing
103-105 Southampton Row
London WC1B 4HH
UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7436 9761
Fax: +44 (0)20 7436 2013
E-mail: orders@itpubs.org.uk
Website: http://www.itdgpublishing.org.uk/
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