Margie Buchanan-Smith

Visiting Fellow

Contact

Margie’s current focus is Sudan, especially Darfur, where she first worked in the late 1980s. During the current conflict in Darfur she has worked as part of the Feinstein International Center’s team, leading a study on the impact of the conflict on trade and markets in 2008. She has also advised and supported NGOs and UN agencies in Darfur in their livelihoods and environmental programming. Margie was formerly a Research Fellow and Coordinator for the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex University, and worked for 3 years as head of the Emergencies Unit at ActionAid. Margie now combines humanitarian consultancy and research work with training, facilitation and coaching of aid workers.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

REGIONAL FOCUS

COURSES TAUGHT

MOST CITED BOOKS & ARTICLES

MOST RECENT EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS

Matteo Caravani publishes on failing aid in Uganda

Every year about thirty billion dollars are spent on aid across Africa, yet high levels of poverty, hunger, and destitution persist. The phenomenon of failing aid in Africa has been…

Feinstein researchers convene on pastoral resilience

Many of the most pressing climate adaptation challenges facing Africa are concentrated in the drylands, which face drought as well as other shocks like disease outbreaks, floods, or conflicts. Pastoral…

Helen Young, Hussein Sulieman,and colleagues publish an article about livestock mobility in East Darfur, Sudan

Roy Behnke, Helen Young, Hussein Sulieman, Sarah Robinson, and Ammar Idris published an article titled, “The seasonal imperative: Environmental drivers of livestock mobility in East Darfur, Sudan.” This paper uses remotely…

Margie Buchanan-Smith writes article reflecting on work with livestock markets in Sudan

Margie Buchanan-Smith, a visiting fellow at the Feinstein International Center, posted an article on the Humanitarian Practice Network as a reflection on her community-based work in Sudan. The Feinstein International…

Feinstein faculty and alum honored at Institute for Human Security Event

On September 18, 2017 Feinstein faculty and an alum were honored at the naming event of the Henry J. Leir Institute for Human Security. Fletcher Masters of Arts in Law…

Tsering Gellek honored for building bridges between cultures

On September 18, 2017, Feinstein Visiting Fellow and Fletcher Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy alum, Tsering Gellek, was honored with the the Henry J. Leir Human Security Award…

FEINSTEIN PUBLICATIONS

State Perspectives on Early Warning, Anticipatory Action, Emergency Response, and Social Protection in Pastoral Areas

This desk study explores how state-owned policies and programs in pastoral areas of the Sudano-Sahel and the Greater Horn of Africa meet pastoralists’ needs and priorities.

How Can Social Protection Systems Be Leveraged for Anticipatory Action?

This literature review examines social protection systems in hazard-prone countries to make recommendations on how these systems could be best used to inform or implement anticipatory action.

Making the Nexus Real: Moving from theory to practice

This report explores the nexus (small n), as a way of programming, and the HDP Nexus approach (capital N), as the approach promoted by the UN and OECD/DAC.

Bloemfontein, South Africa: A Case Report of Refugees in Towns

The Bloemfontein case report explores the way migrants from across Africa have succeeded and struggled with integration to a major urban center in South Africa.

Taking Root: The Cash Crop Trade in Darfur (Arabic)

This is an Arabic translation of an existing publication.

Against the Grain: The Cereal Trade in Darfur

This report analyzes the impact of conflict and associated factors on trade in Darfur’s main agricultural and livestock commodities.

Taking Root: The Cash Crop Trade in Darfur

This study explores the impact of a decade of conflict in Darfur on the trade in some of Darfur’s major cash crops. How has the cash crop trade adapted, and…

Policy Brief: On the Hoof (Arabic)

This is the Arabic translation of a policy brief explores what has happened to the livestock trade in the greater Darfur region from 2003 to 2012, during the conflict.

Policy Brief: On the Hoof

This policy brief explores what has happened to the livestock trade in the greater Darfur region during nine years of conflict, since 2003.

On the Hoof: Livestock Trade in Darfur

Livestock is one of Darfur’s main economic assets and makes a major contribution to Sudan’s national livestock and meat exports. This report explores what has happened to the livestock trade…

Adaptation and Devastation

Conflict and crisis in Darfur has continued unabated since 2003. While there has been a growing body of knowledge about how this has impacted on livelihoods, there has been much…

FEINSTEIN RESEARCH PROJECTS

Early Warning Systems and Humanitarian Response

This project aims to improve the lives and livelihoods of populations in pastoral areas of the Sudano-Sahel and Greater Horn of Africa by ensuring that early warning systems and humanitarian action are better attuned and more responsive to the needs and realities of these communities.

Markets and Trade in Darfur

Feinstein provides advisory support to a community-based market monitoring network in the Darfur Region. This project seeks to deepen analysis and understanding of the shifting patterns of trade and markets in Darfur on an ongoing basis for key agricultural and livestock commodities; identify how livelihoods and the economy can be supported through trade; and identify peace-building opportunities through trade.

Pastoralism and Pastoralist Livelihoods in Sudan

This project aims to promote understanding of pastoralists’ livelihoods systems among local, national, and international stakeholders and to strengthen the capacity of pastoralist leaders, organizations, and other advocates to articulate the rationale for pastoralism.