ACTED’s food distributions reached 134,256 refugees in Gendrassa, Kaya and Doro refugee camps.
Doro, Kaya and Gendrassa camps in Maban host over 96,000 refugees who have escaped conflicts in the Blue Nile and Nuba mountains of Sudan. The conflicts in South Sudan lead to massive displacements and aggravated an already-existing food insecurity in the host communities. Consequently, the situation in Maban has become unbearable due to the looming hunger, malnutrition and poor living conditions, especially for children, women and the elderly. The majority of the population has become reliant on humanitarian food aid, and livelihoods remain a challenge for both refugees and the host communities. The arrival of refugees, in addition to their inability to use land, have put an additional strain on the little resources the area has. Allowing the refugees to use land could potentially increase food production and improve livelihoods for both the refugee population and host communities.
During its food distributions, ACTED have given priority to beneficiaries that are believed to be severely food insecure and people with special needs. Food ration cards were developed to provide an accurate system of distribution. A verification mechanism was also established to avert any possible issues during distribution, as well as construction and setup of distribution sites.
ACTED in South Sudan has implemented programmes such as “Food for Assets” and “Food for Education” to support children at school. In addition to those projects, ACTED also implemented an e-voucher programme in Mingkaman to improve the living conditions, income, and livelihood of the communities. ACTED’s projects are aimed at saving lives, reducing severe food insecurity, stabilising the nutritional status of high-at-risk people, and decreasing dependence on food aid.
In 2015, the World Food Programme reduced food ratio by 30 percent, which indicated an improvement in the level of food security. This was partly due to the active participation of the target beneficiaries in Maban and Mingkaman Wau and Akobo in livelihoods and agricultural practices.