“Sudan is the largest and one of the most diverse countries in Africa, home to deserts, mountain ranges, swamps and rain forests.”, says the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). However, Sudan is not making headlines with its stunning landscape, but is known for the never ending civil war between the North and the South and more recent the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. According to the United Nations more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 Million have been displaced since the conflict between various rebel groups and the government in Khartoum broke out in Darfur in 2003.

However, the it should not be forgoten that the conflict is deep routed and multi layered and not simply solved even if combatants would finalise peace talks tomorrow. Even without the hostilities Darfur would be a place with severe problems such as steady depletion of natural resources, high degree of food insecurity and an extrem complex social fabric.

I arrived in El Fasher, North Darfur provincial capital, in January 2008. German Agro Action/Welthungerhilfe implemented a large scale Food Security Program in co-operation with the Unites Nations World Food Programme (WFP) providing food for some 500.000 people affected by the conflict. In addition, social institutions and farmers were assisted by either rehabilitation activities or seed and tool distribution. The operation developed into a demanding assignment physically and mentally to me. Darfur is a special place, for sure.
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