Major Displacement in Darfur

AL-FASHIR - Apr 19/04 - IRIN) -- The 14-month conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, has displaced over one million people, in addition to the more than 100,000 who have fled across the border into neighbouring Chad, according to United Nations estimates.

Humanitarian workers in the region say that it is too early to predict the long-term implications of the conflict on either the internally displaced persons (IDPs), the refugees or the host populations in the areas they have fled to. But with many of the IDPs fleeing from the region's best food-producing areas to urban centers, the aid workers say, food shortages and dependency on food aid will be an ongoing problem.

"Even if the displaced were able to return to their farms immediately to avail themselves of the current planting season, they would still be dependent on food aid until the end of 2004," said Laura Melo, spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP).

If, on the other hand, this year's April to June planting season is missed, the next harvest of staples like millet and sorghum will not be available until the end of 2005.

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