Opportunities in Sudan, despite the conflict

While farmers in Sudan are facing economic hardships, the country’s groundnut production remains a significant foreign-exchange earner.  

- Janine Ryan

Agriculture is an important employer in Sudan, with around 80% of the working population employed along the agriculture value chain. The country is a major producer and exporter of sesame seeds, groundnuts and cotton.

Conflict is perhaps the biggest threat to sustainable food production in Sudan. Not only has it resulted in the displacement of millions of people, but it has also led to a lack of foreign investment and a crash in the economy, which has seen farmers unable to access finance to plant crops.

Conflict in the country has been ongoing for many years, and a military coup in October 2021 saw a resurgence of ‘ethnic’ wars. What’s more, at the end of August 2022, following a five-month ceasefire, conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government again ensued. Farmers from Sudan who lived along that country’s shared border with Ethiopia are concerned over the resumption of these hostilities. Sudanese farmers told the Sudan Tribune that they were concerned about what the heavy artillery would mean for their crops and livestock.

Farmer-nomad conflict is also an ongoing problem in Sudan, and the expected influx of refugees from Ethiopia will also have a negative impact on food security.

A May 2022 project initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will see 180 000 households (900 000 people) in Sudan, including the most vulnerable farming and pastoralist communities, receive agricultural support over a period of time.