Initiatives to Support Food Security for Displaced Families in New Halfa

Volunteers have successfully transformed small spaces in household yards in New Halfa locality, Kassala State, into home gardens that provide daily food for displaced and host families. The initiative aims to strengthen food security and self-reliance among communities affected by displacement.

Limited areas of household yards have been used to grow vegetables, offering a practical model that highlights the role of family farming in providing food and mitigating the impact of the humanitarian crisis. The initiative also demonstrates how unused spaces can be transformed into sustainable sources of food production.

As part of monitoring the project, a delegation from the Child Development Organization in Kassala State conducted a supervisory visit to the home gardens, with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources and the Agricultural Extension and Technology Transfer Department, as well as the organization’s state office director. The visit aimed to assess the progress of the project and provide technical support to beneficiaries.

Speaking to Mashaweer, child rights activist in Kassala State Asaad Al-Jak said the project provided essential agricultural inputs to 250 beneficiaries, including farming tools such as hoes and mattocks, as well as seeds for five types of vegetables: cucumber, okra, arugula, leafy greens, and eggplant. These inputs are helping families produce part of their food needs and improve their livelihoods.

Abdelrahim Abdeen, one of the project’s beneficiaries, told Mashaweer that the initiative is being implemented as part of a project aimed at strengthening the resilience of displaced people, refugees, host communities, and vulnerable groups in eastern Sudan, in partnership with and funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Abdeen stressed that equipping families with the means of production represents a more sustainable approach than relying on direct aid. He said it helps strengthen their ability to cope with livelihood challenges and achieve a greater degree of self-reliance.