The Fort Worth Press - War decimates harvest in famine-threatened Sudan

USD -
AED 3.673027
AFN 68.112673
ALL 94.198378
AMD 389.366092
ANG 1.801814
AOA 913.000309
ARS 998.416897
AUD 1.528496
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.700568
BAM 1.877057
BBD 2.018523
BDT 119.468305
BGN 1.87679
BHD 0.376794
BIF 2953.116752
BMD 1
BND 1.347473
BOB 6.908201
BRL 5.800994
BSD 0.99976
BTN 84.384759
BWP 13.658045
BYN 3.27175
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015164
CAD 1.393455
CDF 2870.999877
CHF 0.89073
CLF 0.035441
CLP 977.925332
CNY 7.242986
CNH 7.24248
COP 4389.749988
CRC 509.237487
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.825615
CZK 24.2045
DJF 178.031575
DKK 7.12045
DOP 60.252411
DZD 134.221412
EGP 49.386169
ERN 15
ETB 122.388982
EUR 0.954715
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.794331
GEL 2.740277
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.795384
GIP 0.789317
GMD 70.999825
GNF 8617.496041
GTQ 7.717261
GYD 209.15591
HKD 7.78361
HNL 25.264168
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.234704
HUF 392.814987
IDR 15943.55
ILS 3.70177
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.43625
IQD 1309.659773
IRR 42074.999843
ISK 139.679819
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.268679
JOD 0.7091
JPY 154.057498
KES 129.468784
KGS 86.501234
KHR 4025.145161
KMF 472.500707
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.510504
KWD 0.30785
KYD 0.833149
KZT 499.179423
LAK 21959.786938
LBP 89526.368828
LKR 290.973655
LRD 180.450118
LSL 18.040693
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882192
MAD 10.057392
MDL 18.23504
MGA 4666.25078
MKD 59.052738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.015644
MRU 39.77926
MUR 46.8503
MVR 15.460191
MWK 1733.576467
MXN 20.361006
MYR 4.467973
MZN 63.9101
NAD 18.040693
NGN 1696.695737
NIO 36.786794
NOK 11.00941
NPR 135.016076
NZD 1.705801
OMR 0.384846
PAB 0.99976
PEN 3.790969
PGK 4.025145
PHP 58.939017
PKR 277.626662
PLN 4.139449
PYG 7804.59715
QAR 3.646048
RON 4.78029
RSD 112.294256
RUB 103.747172
RWF 1364.748788
SAR 3.754429
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.699007
SDG 601.497256
SEK 10.97345
SGD 1.343205
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.729774
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.332598
SRD 35.493964
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748021
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.034455
THB 34.443007
TJS 10.647152
TMT 3.5
TND 3.17616
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.531755
TTD 6.790153
TWD 32.583499
TZS 2659.340659
UAH 41.35995
UGX 3694.035222
UYU 42.516436
UZS 12825.951341
VES 46.55914
VND 25419
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 629.547483
XAG 0.031868
XAU 0.000368
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.760497
XOF 629.547483
XPF 114.458467
YER 249.924973
ZAR 18.01705
ZMK 9001.187483
ZMW 27.617448
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

War decimates harvest in famine-threatened Sudan
War decimates harvest in famine-threatened Sudan / Photo: © AFP/File

War decimates harvest in famine-threatened Sudan

Ahmed Othman's farm has been spared from the deadly fighting that has spread across Sudan, but the war's toll on the economy and labour market has still reached him.

Text size:

"I had to sell two vehicles" to afford to harvest this season's crops, he told AFP from his large sesame farm in eastern Sudan's Gedaref state.

A year and a half of war in Sudan between the army and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and devastated harvests.

Last month, United Nations experts accused the warring sides of using "starvation tactics" against 25 million civilians, and three major aid organisations warned of a "historic" hunger crisis as families resort to eating leaves and insects.

Hundreds of farmers have been driven off their once-fertile lands and those who have managed to remain face tremendous hardships.

Gedaref state is key to Sudan's corn production, a crucial crop for a population the World Food Programme warns is nearing famine -- a condition already declared at a displacement camp in the country's western region of Darfur.

"The first challenge we faced was securing funding as banks are experiencing a cash crunch due to the war," said Othman.

Cash shortages have occurred even in army-controlled Gedaref since the RSF took over the capital Khartoum and banks were ransacked.

The farmer said that without selling two out of his three vehicles he could not have afforded fuel for farm machinery or to pay workers to prepare the fields and tend to the crops.

"The second problem is the scarcity of farm workers due to the war, which has limited their movement across states," he added.

Most workers in Gedaref previously came from the adjacent states of Blue Nile and Sennar, as well as from Kordofan further away.

- Giving up -

However, the war has restricted inter-state movement, leaving farm owners like Othman with only a small workforce.

Another local farmer, Suleiman Mohamed, said "the shortage of workers has driven up wages, so we are relying on those already in the area, mainly Ethiopians" who have long resided in Sudan's east as refugees.

War began in April 2023 between the army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Disruptions to the harvest this season could exacerbate the hunger crisis, made worse by restrictions on aid entry.

European and North American nations issued a joint statement last month that accused the warring sides of "systematic obstruction" of aid efforts. They said both sides should urgently admit the assistance to millions of people in dire need.

In southern Gedaref, another farmer, Othman Abdelkarim, said many have already given up on this year's season.

"Most of us have relied on ourselves for financing, and some simply opted out and didn't plant," he said, pointing to an unplanted field west of his farm.

"This crisis will delay the harvest and affect its quality," he added.

The state's agriculture ministry reported that nine million acres (3.6 million hectares) were cultivated in Gedaref this year -- five million with corn and the rest with sesame, sunflowers, peanuts and cotton.

That is less than half of the roughly 20 million acres planted annually before the war.

Farmer Suleiman Mohamed fears there is no hope for this season's crop.

"With fewer workers and delayed harvesting, we'll face losses, and part of the crop will be lost," he said from his farm in eastern Gedaref.

M.T.Smith--TFWP