How markets are reducing conflicts in Sudan

Want to resolve conflicts between farmers and pastoralists? CARE Sudan has figured out an answer.

In 1996, Thomas Friedman said that no two countries with McDonald’s have ever gone to war with each other. CARE Sudan decided to build on this idea—not by building McDonald’s, but by building markets. The theory is that increasing market interactions between farmers and pastoralists, the financial incentives for peace go up, and the advantages of conflict go down. According to project participants in the most recent evaluation, it’s working.

The Secure Economies and Diversified Livelihoods for Peaceful Coexistence ran in Sudan from 2014-2016. It reached 8,525 households in South Kordofan and South Darfur.

What did we accomplish?

  • Fewer conflicts: 52% of people think that conflicts have gone down as a result of the project. 46% think community relationships have improved with the project.
  • More food: 56% of people feel that there is more and better quality food available in the market than before, and 16% of people report being able to buy more food because of the project.
  • Higher incomes: 42% of families report higher incomes as part of the project.
  • Better access to resources: 51% of people report that they are able to access more natural resources, and more resources are available because of the project.

How did we get there?

  • Strengthen markets: The project worked to establish markets opportunities and infrastructure that brought farmers and pastoralists together. This provided a financial incentive to resolve conflicts, because now they were selling resources to each other.
  • Get farmers skills that have broad use: The project trained farmers in veterinary skills so that they could provide services to pastoralists—another financial incentive on both sides to make sure that conflicts didn’t disrupt businesses that benefitted both groups.
  • Teach job skills and job search skills: The project trained 99 youth in technical and vocational skills, and then realized they also needed to add components about how to find a job, not just how to do one.
  • Use the VSLA: The project created VSLAs to reach nearly 5,000 people and serve as a platform for mobilizing credit, training people in business skills, and having community conversations.
  • Put communities in charge: The project created and trained Village Development Communities to strengthen cooperation. Communities consistently rated these as effective and transparent governance bodies.

Want to learn more?

Check out the final evaluation.