Examining Enterprise Capacity - SSDDRC

Enterprise Activity
Many of the IDPs expressed their desire to participate in enterprise activities. There exists a small
but active market at Obel, where a variety of goods and services are sold, including fish, meat,
cigarettes, wood and kitchen utensils. Women are active in the Obel market, selling wood and
grasses that they have collected and retail items brought in from outside markets. Women are also
responsible for the production of food items including coffee and tea, based on stereotypical
gendered division of labor within these communities.
Some IDPs at Obel stated that they are ready for entrepreneurship activity and training in enterprise
related investment, planning and management. Brick making was suggested as a possible enterprise
opportunity, which would use the abundant supply of cattle dung and would address the construction
needs of the community. Irrigation systems for farming would improve productivity of farmers,
possibly allowing more residents to participate in small-scale market-focused agriculture.
Microfinance, banks and revolving funds were discussed by community members, but access to
these are currently non-existent at Obel. It was mentioned that there were past loan schemes with
fishermen, yet these were not successful because the loans were defaulted.
Aid and Assistance
Health services and education were
stated by the focus groups as the top
Aid and Assistance Required % of Community
assistance required. This reflected the Hospitals/Health Services 34%
desire in the community for more
education opportunities beyond the
More Schools/Education 30%
primary education already provided.
Health requirements reflect that the
community is unable to access existing
services at the town of Malakal, most
likely due to distance and lack of funds
Access to Transportation
Agriculture Tools and Equipment
28%
8%
and identification. Access to transportation between Malakal and Obel would improve work
opportunities and market access for the IDPs.
The IDPs stated that currently there are no NGOs providing training, services or safe drinking water to
the IDPs at Obel camp. The World Food Programme (WFP) delivers food twice annually at irregular
intervals. The IDPs at Obel are concerned that the food aid will decrease, since the announcement
that the WFP will cut food aid and shift services from IDPs in camps to returnees at their places of
origin.
Constraints
Interestingly, personal safety was rated Livelihood-related Constraints % of Community
extremely high as a concern of the IDPs
during the focus groups. This could
Personal Safety 50%
reflect the dangers in the area for women Shortage of Tools (boats, nets etc.) 29%
collecting wood and grasses, looting of
livestock and the escalating political and Looting of Livestock 7%
tribal tensions in the area. Heavy fighting
Other (unspecified) 14%
which occurred in the Malakal area in
November 2006, six months after the
researchers visited Malakal and Obel IDP camp, justifies that the IDPs were not exaggerating their
concern for personal safety.
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