Sudan war threatens to famine greater than the expectations of the United Nations
Farmers in several Sudanese states fear that the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has now entered its fourth month, will jeopardize the production of basic crops this year, which will result in an exacerbation of hunger and poverty in the country.
More than 10 people, including farmers, experts and aid workers, reported delays in planting crops such as sorghum and millet, due to reasons such as a lack of bank credit and high prices of key inputs such as fertilizer, seeds and fuel. Four farmers told Reuters that they may not be able to plant at all before heavy rains are expected this month, which is a traditional irrigation opportunity.
According to three sources in the sector, imports of food and primary commodities have been negatively affected due to the war and the financial meltdown. Fighting, looting and bureaucratic restrictions have also limited foreign aid, while aid agencies have accused the warring sides of obstructing the delivery of aid, including food.
The deterioration of conditions for farmers suggests that a looming hunger crisis may be more severe than the United Nations and aid workers expect. In May, the United Nations said it estimated the number of hungry people in Sudan would rise to 19.1 million by August, from 16.2 million before the conflict that began on April 15. The shortage of basic foodstuffs, exacerbated by the looting of warehouses in the capital Khartoum and other cities, will exacerbate a hunger crisis that has been worsening for years.
Smoke rises over Khartoum as a result of the battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (AFP)
Foreign exchange was scarce
This would also limit the means of earning and strip Sudan of the foreign exchange needed to import basic commodities, as central bank figures indicate that crops of high commercial value such as sesame and peanuts contributed $1.6 billion to export revenues in 2022. The United Nations also reports The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that nearly 65 percent of Sudan’s population of about 45 million people work in the agricultural sector.
While experts from the United Nations say it is too early to officially declare a famine in Sudan, 4 farmers told Reuters that they believe the situation is already moving in this direction. “Peanuts and sorghum should have been planted, but so far our readiness is zero,” said Abdul Raouf Omar, a farmer and leader of a farmers’ alliance in Gezira State, a major agricultural region in central Sudan that has not seen fighting.
Last week, the FAO said it had begun emergency distributions of sorghum, millet, groundnuts and sesame seeds, and it hopes to meet “complex security and logistical challenges” to provide enough to cover the needs of between 13 and 19 million people. The UN World Food Program said it would continue to analyze the situation over the next six months and after the planting and harvesting season.
Displaced Sudanese near the border with Chad receive food aid (Reuters)
It’s too late to farm
Omar said he fears it is already too late to plant, a view shared by three other farmers. Omar added that although the fighting did not directly affect their farms, a major problem is the lack of financing and failure to fulfill promises of lending or in-kind support from banks.
Banks were looted, and they were forced to limit their activities with the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese army and the “rapid support” forces in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities in the regions of Darfur and Kordofan. Although most of Sudan’s agricultural regions are relatively calm, supply chains centered in the capital have been largely disrupted. Witnesses reported that some warehouses of fertilizer, seed and pesticide inputs were looted.
In Gezira state, farmers have been going through financial difficulties for years as the country slips deeper into an economic and political crisis. Muhammad Bella, a leader in an agricultural cooperative, said that they are now facing difficulties in repaying loans in order to obtain new financing, adding that only a small percentage of the land has been prepared for cultivation.
agricultural inputs
Farmers in other parts of Sudan suffer a similar plight. Muhammad Ajab Siddiq, a farmer in the states of Sennar, Blue Nile and White Nile states, says that he is facing difficulties in obtaining financing for inputs to plant about 10,000 feddans of sorghum and sesame. He usually relied on the revenues from selling the crops he harvested in the previous season, but the armed conflict made it almost impossible. The market is central in Khartoum, where the war is fierce.
In May, the Council of Ministers issued directives to continue preparing for the summer agricultural season and to remove obstacles that might hinder the process. This includes defining the areas targeted for the summer season and developing a plan to provide the required agricultural inputs.
And Siddik, like other farmers, had been promised seeds and fuel from the Agricultural Bank, but by early this month he was still waiting. He said that there is a high probability that he will not get this support. Farmers with access to financing reported a sharp rise in the price of inputs, which include seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and fuel, according to the World Food Programme.
Bread crisis in the Sudanese capital since the beginning of the war in April (Reuters)
Prices doubled
“Fuel is sold at the black price, and prices have doubled by 300 percent,” said Mahdi Ahmed, a farmer in North Kordofan. “Unfortunately, all of these indicate the failure of the agricultural season.” In areas in the west of the country, where aid groups say food stocks are running low, Ahmed and another farmer, Mohamed Abdallah, from North Darfur, said farmers were looted and robbed by armed gangs.
Adam Yao, FAO representative in Sudan, says there are reports of delays in larger commercial farms that produce for export and also produce sorghum and millet. “Any disruption … will have a huge impact on the country’s economy and on the livelihoods of the Sudanese people as well,” he continued.
In Gezira state, which has received about 170,000 displaced people fleeing the fighting in Khartoum, some food shortages have been reported, and the World Food Program is providing support there for the first time. “This increases the pressure on the basic resources in that area,” said Lenny Kinsley, information officer for the World Food Program in Sudan.
Those who remain in Khartoum State face shortages of supplies and rising prices as liquidity dries up. Two of the residents said that all the bakeries in the two neighborhoods in which they live were closed.
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2023-07-18 00:11:45
