AID grant to Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) to support a program to ensure that 1988 food aid contributes in the recovery of communities in Kordofan Province, Sudan

The project, which will be implemented jointly by CARE and the Regional Government of Kordofan (RGOK), will also collect information needed to plan future food allocations. The main activity will be to create a food monitoring unit that will (1) verify when, where, and how much food is actually received by the intended beneficiaries and (2) collect the agroclimatic and socioeconomic data needed for future food allocations (data will be collected on village-level food needs; communities" ability to pay for food; and demographic, economic, health, and nutrition trends in the project area). Teams consisting of one CARE and one RGOK official will conduct three types of monitoring. (1) Under single visit monitoring, monthly surveys of food aid use will be conducted in a representative sample of villages in each rural council, as well as in nomads" "furgaans." Assessments will be made of the absolute and relative food needs of each community visited. (2) Whenever problems arise regarding food aid distribution, trouble shooting trips will be made to diagnose the situation and make recommendations for corrective action to the Food Aid National Administration. (3) About 36 sentinel sites will be visited monthly to monitor incremental changes in socioeconomic trends and seasonal vulnerabilities. Reports summarizing the findings and providing recommendations will be submitted to food donors, the Sudanese Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, and the RGOK. Community and tribal leaders will be invited to participate in the above activities. Second, the project will help the RGOK to establish a documentation center to serve as a regional depository for all project-generated data. CARE will provide two computers for the center and develop a strong training program for Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning personnel. Finally, in conjunction with RGOK and interested private organizations, CARE will conduct a comprehensive crop survey for the 1988 agricultural season. The survey will determine zonal variations in crop production as judged from field observation of plant growth and infestation/infection and from data on rainfall, migration, and prices. The data will be relayed instantly to the Agricultural Statistics central office and will be incorporated into the Sudan Emergency and Recovery Information and Surveillance System (SERISS).