Abstract

In 2004, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. A comprehensive food aid programme soon followed, at the time the largest in the world. Yet by 2014, while the crisis continued, international agencies found they had limited access to much of the population, with the Sudanese regime effectively controlling who received aid. As a result, acute malnutrition remains persistently high.

Food Aid in Sudan argues that the situation in Sudan is emblematic of a far wider problem. Analysing the history of food aid in the country over fifty years, Jaspars shows that such aid often serves to enrich local regimes and the private sector while leaving war-torn populations in a state of permanent emergency. Drawing on her decades of experience as an aid worker and researcher in the region, and extensive interviews with workers in the food aid process, Jaspars brings together two key topics of our time: the failure of the humanitarian system to respond to today’s crises, and the crisis in the global food system.

Essential reading for students and researchers across the social sciences studying the nature and effectiveness of contemporary humanitarianism, development and international aid.

Susanne Jaspars has worked in the field of humanitarian aid for over thirty years, both as a practitioner and researcher. She has worked for Medecins sans Frontieres, Oxfam, and the World Food Programme, in countries across east and central Africa. She has also conducted research for the Overseas Development Institute, and currently serves on the editorial board of the International Humanitarian Studies Association. Her previous works include Nutrition Matters: People, Food and Famine (co-authored with Helen Young, 1995).

'A superb account of the intertwining of nutritional science, politics and humanitarian crisis in Sudan over fifty years. This is an essential book for all students of humanitarianism.'
Alex de Waal, co-author of Darfur: A Short History of a Long War

‘Jaspers has written a singular, important and challenging book. Indeed, I cannot speak too highly of this major work. This book deserves to become a classic within the humanitarian field and demands to be widely read.’
Mark Duffield, author of Global Governance and the New Wars

‘Provides crucial insights into how food aid has shaped power relations in Sudan. A timely and meticulous contribution towards understanding the politics of food insecurity and the processes of aid provision.’
Zoë Marriage, SOAS, University of London

‘Brilliantly and disturbingly demonstrates how a range of self-interests and shifting orthodoxies have combined to create the virtual abandonment of a highly distressed population in Darfur.’
David Keen, London School of Economics