Alexander de Waal, 2005. Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan 1984-1985 (original edition 1989): Destitution and Famine

Thèmes abordés

Alexander de Waal - Famine that Kills - Darfur - Destitution and Famine

Résumé du document

This is a poorer land than any of the other communities studied. Famine was a way of life in there since the 1960's
In 1984-5, the Fur (people of Jebel Si) preferred leaving the farms where they were employed in order to cultivate their own land, even though the wage had increased in the Southern farms where they used to work. They thus preferred "leaving the shame, dependence, and exclusion of working for others, for the dignity, autonomy and community of working on their own farms, despite the huge hardship and hunger it involved". This illustrate the fact that insiders are actually more attached to their way of life than to the assurance of having something to eat. They rather avoid destitution than hunger.

People fell in destitution when they had to sell their labor during the wet season. It was nonetheless very difficult to acquire its own land in Darfur at this time, and seeds were scarce. Not everybody could manage to have its own land; many had to opt for low status work, and thus fell in destitution as they were forced out of the rural economy.

Extraits

[...] Herders were facing greater dangers, as their future relied entirely on their animals. Farmers and herders struggled to preserve the base of their future livelihood: they actually had enough cash to buy the grain and the food they needed; they nonetheless preferred to spend this money on their animals, so as to preserve their status and the future (i.e. so as not to be forced to accept low status jobs that would lead them to fall into destitution.). Animals and especially donkeys were extremely important for farmers as well; in low status work (which was dominant at the time in the Darfur), as they could make a significant difference in, for example, the amount of water you could carry, and thus the amount of money you could make. [...]

[...] Sells and deaths of animals led many people to fall into destitution. The sellers were put in a desperate position vis-à-vis the buyers. They nonetheless wait till the last extremity to renounce to their herds. Therefore, one would say that there distress was not caused by the lack of food, or even by the lack of money in the first place, but by their desperate struggle to avoid destitution. It allows us to understand how famine does happen through the perception of the locals. [...]

[...] Alexander de Waal Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan 1984-1985 (original edition 1989): Destitution and Famine Destitution Famine is primarily seen by people as a threat to their way of life rather than to their lives. People's aim during the famine was to avoid destitution (i.e. poverty) De Wall analyses three cases of people trying to struggle against famine in this perspective The farmers of Jebel Si: a “Worst Case Scenario” This is a poorer land than any of the other communities studied. [...]

[...] They keep struggling for their priorities. Subsistent society is recreated amongst the destitute. These case studies do bring the proof that the locals suffering from famine are still fighting for they standard of living, for their way of life, in an organized manner; this cuts with the image propagated in the Western of people relying only on charity to survive. People actually chose to go hungry so as not to fall in the destitution where Westerners do believe they are. [...]