Food aid in Sudan - new book by Susanne Jaspars



I'm really happy to announce the publication today of our colleague Susanne Jaspars' book, "Food aid in Sudan. A history of power, politics and profit." I first came across Susanne's work on famine in the 1990s, and it is great to have her contributing to our intellectual life at SOAS.

Full details are below; here is the inside story from Susanne:

"My book on Food Aid in Sudan (published by Zed Books) is out today.  It presents a unique analysis of changes in food aid practices and its effect in one country over a period of fifty years.  It also builds on my own experience of working on food aid issues, much of which was in Sudan.  In the book, I discuss how despite the proliferation in food aid practices, food aid rarely had the intended effect of saving lives and supporting livelihoods.  It did, however, have a number of political and economic effects – including the creation of Sudan’s own food aid apparatus.  Furthermore, I find that contemporary medicalised and depoliticised food-based resilience practices do not reveal these effects.  Instead, they have facilitated the withdrawal of food aid in the face of ongoing conflict, displacement and high rates of acute malnutrition.  I argue that these practices can also be seen as abandoning crisis-affected populations.  These findings do not just apply to Sudan, but are emblematic of the failures of humanitarianism globally and of the need for reform." 

Hardback £65 / $95 ISBN: 9781786992093

Food Aid in Sudan A History of Power, Politics and Profit Susanne Jaspars Published 15 May 2018 A comprehensive study of one of the world's largest food aid programmes, interrogating the failures of contemporary humanitarianism and the wider crisis in the global food system   Examines the evolution and effects of food aid practices in one country over a period of more than 50 years   Rich in empirical material – based on extensive interviews with all those involved in the food aid process   Author is an experienced aid practitioner who took an active role in shaping emergency food policy in Sudan, having worked for Oxfam, MSF and the World Food Programme 'A superb account of the intertwining of nutritional science, politics and humanitarian crisis in Sudan over fifty years. This is an essential book for all students of humanitarianism.' Alex de Waal, co-author of Darfur: A Short History of a Long War ‘Jaspars has written a singular, important and challenging book. Indeed, I cannot speak too highly of this major work. This book deserves to become a classic within the humanitarian field and demands to be widely read.’ Mark Duffield, author of Global Governance and the New Wars ‘Provides crucial insights into how food aid has shaped power relations in Sudan. A timely and meticulous contribution towards understanding the politics of food insecurity and the processes of aid provision.’ Zoë Marriage, SOAS, University of London ‘Brilliantly and disturbingly demonstrates how a range of self-interests and shifting orthodoxies have combined to create the virtual abandonment of a highly distressed population in Darfur.’ David Keen, London School of Economics