Recovering in Sudan for Improved Nutrition and Growth (RISING II)

Recovering in Sudan for Improved Nutrition and Growth (RISING II) is a humanitarian program providing livelihood and nutrition services in parts of all five Darfur states in Sudan. It is implemented by a consortium of four international NGOs (CRS, World Vision, NCA, and CAFOD). The project aims to integrate farmers and pastoralists in conflict affected communities into commodity value chains so they can improve their access to markets, supply chains, and value-added processes.

During the design of the program, the NGOs identified specific gaps in their understanding of the context that could potentially have a significant impact on the effectiveness of their programming in this and other projects. In particular they noted that the needed to improve their understanding of locally adapted systems of mutual support that help individual households when they face difficult times. To fill this knowledge gap, the RISING II operational research analyzes the informal social safety nets—how they function, who benefits from them, and how external support interacts with them—in multiple program areas.