Evaluation of food situation and survival strategies in urban Sudan, case studies from Omdurman

Food security and urban population growth are challenging problems of dovolopmont planning in Third World. Tho mushrooming of urban aroas as results of natural and non natural increase of the populafi`on have exaggerated the food situation and emerged a large segment as urban poor. In the past urban poor was a concept devoted to new comers to urban centers who usually settle in the peripheries. But due to excessive rural - urban migration and the exhausted income resources of the settled urbanites, urban poor extented to new segments who have not been categorized as urban poor. To face food shortage these people develop survival strategies to cope with particularly in cases of low income, increased food prices and difficulties with other living needs. This paper seeks to show the scale and dimension of poverty in the Capital Region of Sudan and the way the urban poor endeavour to overcome this poverty. Four areas were chosen in Omdurman, two of them (Om-badda and Gamier) represent squatter settlements which have undergone planning and organization and have been attached to the town planned areas. Oar es deism Is a new planned area which have much of the former squatter regulation of Omdurman. The fourth Thawra - Mara 4) usually known to accomodate lower middle class population. The former areas not only show many architectual and housing style characteristics but seem to have population from the same background. The fieldwork have beden carried out in July - August 1995, a total of 200 households were surveyed using a questionnaire in a random sampling procedure. Main aspects surveyed include sources and levels of income, ways of expenditure, quality and quantity of food and the survival strategies adopted in cases of food shorfago and declining consumption lovols . In all these aspects the results of the survey show some contradictory points to the generally accepted pattern of poverty phenomenon and the accompaning patterns of human behaviouf