To support pastoralist livelihoods in South Darfur State, IOM has recently completed four vaccination and treatment campaigns for livestock in four villages in Buram Locality - Hinaiga, Umm Mandoka, Amorgo and Umm Kradis. The campaigns, implemented in June 2016 by local partner Al Radoam Charity Organization in partnership with the Ministry of Animal Resources, reached a total of 22,500 heads of livestock. The intervention is particularly relevant at a time when communities in the region are suffering from the impact of the El Niño, a wave of unusually warm weather which delayed rainfall and has affected the quality of grazing land and livestock. Moreover, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) reports that no vaccination campaigns were implemented in South Darfur State in 2015 due to a lack of state government resources.

According to 2012 data from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 39.1% of all livestock in Sudan originates from the Darfur region. Pastoralism significantly contributes to the economy of Sudan and the region, and pastoralist livelihoods have in recent years been aggravated by the blockage of migratory routes with bordering South Sudan, and limited availability of grazing land.

The intervention is part of the Cross Border Peace and Cooperation (CBPC) programme funded by the European Union. The project, valued at 2 M EUR and with a duration of 24 months, aims to contribute to Sudan’s development priorities through enabling an environment for community stabilization and peaceful coexistence amongst communities in South and East Darfur States, in areas at the border with South Sudan. Pastoralist and sedentary communities have long coexisted in these areas, in an interdependent relationship traditionally facilitated by trade and commerce, as well as marketing livestock chains.