Cambios y potencial resistencia de los sistemas alimentarios en el conflicto de las montañas de Nuba

Abstract

This study examines the Nuba Mountains Programme Advancing Conflict Transformation (NMPACT) in the Sudan as an example of an operational response which innovatively addressed a growing food security crisis by protecting and supporting livelihoods. The paper outlines the characteristics of the Nuba Mountains emergency context and describes the main livelihoods profiles in the region, external shocks to which local food systems have been subjected and levels of resilience. It then discusses the co mplex sets of inter-related but changing factors and actors which have characterised the Nuba Mountains context over the last two decades. Key features of the programme are presented along with an in-depth analysis of the innovatory aspects of the model, including the role of information flows in decision making and policy development. Particular attention is paid to the principles of engagement and the ‘political humanitarianism’ of NMPACT to illustrate how NMPACT broke from traditional externa lly driven responses to food insecurity to adopt an approach that focuses on capacity building, sustainable agriculture and market revitalisation, alongside conflict transformation and peace-building. Successes, limitations and challenges are distilled to provide lessons for possible replication in other complex emergency contexts.