Income Generation Activities as Pathways to Livelihood Resilience Among South Sudanese Refugees and Host Communities in White Nile State, Sudan

Abstract

Food insecurity continues to define daily life for South Sudanese refugees and host communities in Sudan's White Nile State, where the two groups compete for scarce land, water, and labor. This study investigates how income-generation activities have shaped livelihoods and income diversification among South Sudanese Refugees (SSR) and host communities (HC) in White Nile State. It draws on a household survey (N = 447), key informant interviews (KII), and focus group discussions (FGD) carried out across nine refugee camps and host-community villages in the Al-Gabalain and Al-Salam localities, covering four linked income-generation pathways: crop agriculture supported by Farmer Field Schools (FFS), small-scale fishery production and processing, vocational skills training, and Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLA). Survey results show that 34.9% of households received agricultural training, 42.5% received agricultural inputs, 28.4% reported higher income following increased production, and 42.5% reported more diverse diets after crop or vegetable production. Fishery-based livelihoods performed the worst of the four, constrained by inadequate inputs, weak market linkages, and a poor match with beneficiaries' pastoral backgrounds. Vocational training (VT) reached fewer than a third of the target population, and the inputs needed to convert new skills into enterprises were often unavailable: 27% of SSR households received VT, 16.9% received inputs afterward, and 10.2% went on to establish an independent enterprise. VSLA membership was linked to a reported income increase for 35.1% of participating households. The results are interpreted against the wider literature on Farmer Field Schools, small-scale fisheries development, and vocational education and training (VET). The paper closes with recommendations for strengthening market linkages, input supply chains, and locally appropriate livelihood diversification. It recommends that agricultural support prioritize resolving seed and input shortages and expand secure land access for camp-based refugees, including relocating Vertical Bucket Gardens; that the fishery production and processing component be replaced with an income-generation activity better suited to beneficiaries' agro-pastoral skills; and that vocational training be paired more consistently with post-training inputs, equipment maintenance, and market-linkage support.