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Novelle in Southern Sudan

When working on development projects in third world countries, the usual goals are increases in employment, increases in rural incomes, and a general increase in the supply of food. In the design and implementation of these projects, the normal procedure is to build upon the existing infrastructure, in the broadest sense of the definition. This will mean not only roads and bridges and ports, but also soil and water, financial institutions, and the existing capabilities of the local population.

But how do you approach the project when there is virtually no infrastructure at all? This is the situation that Novelle principal, Henry Winogrond, found recently in the south of Sudan, where he was the first American brought in by USAID to design a development program, as the country transitions from a humanitarian phase to a development phase. The country had been at war for nearly 30 years, and in that time nearly all of the roads and bridges were destroyed, and virtually the entire male population had been fighting in the bush, and most skills in agriculture and light industry had been lost to the younger generation ( 18-35 years old. ) The banking system was just being recreated, and both the federal and state governments were struggling to develop their own rules and regulations.

Mr. Winogrond traveled throughout southern Sudan, visiting the regional capitals, meeting with all of the southern state Governors, in addition to the Commissioners, who were the equivalent of the Mayors of the state capitals.  There were very few business entrepreneurs to interview, as virtually the only functional businesses were the trading businesses, as nearly all of the food and all of the manufactured items were brought in from outside, either from northern Sudan or from neighboring countries, such as Uganda or Kenya.

Working under these conditions, but always assuming that peace will now prevail, Mr. Winogrond designed a 4 year, $25,000,000 development program for this area, with work plans for 28 individual industrial or product sectors, all of which may have a reasonable possibility of development, given appropriate levels of financial and human support from USAID. These sectors range from the initiation of banana cultivation, to eggs and poultry, honey and beekeeping, fisheries, fish farming, rice, vegetables, handicrafts, agro-forestry, furniture, and many others. ( The agro-forestry and furniture sector, is very interesting, as southern Sudan has tens of thousands of hectares of teak and mahogany, which is currently being used for charcoal and building supplies. )  The program includes extensive training by local vocational schools, which will be assisted and partially financed in order to complement the specific development projects.

The next step now will be taken by USAID, and the project will hopefully be funded and implemented. Several million people in this country have lived lives of great privation and danger for three decades, and this could now represent their best chance to move forward to more normal and productive lives.