Sudan sets up 3 trillion-pound bank fund to rescue summer farming season
July 9, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government decided on Thursday to establish a banking finance portfolio exceeding 3 trillion Sudanese pounds to ensure the success of the summer agricultural season and fund the productive sector.
The summer season, which runs from July to October, faces severe challenges, including funding shortages, scarcity of improved seeds and fertilizers, and high fuel and production costs, amid collapsed supply chains caused by the conflict that erupted in April 2023.
Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim announced that the government created the banking finance portfolio to exceed 3 trillion pounds as part of arrangements to support the summer agricultural season, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Ibrahim revealed that his ministry would bear a significant percentage of agricultural insurance costs to ease the burden on farmers, emphasizing the importance of organizing small producers into agricultural cooperatives to facilitate their access to government services, including technical packages, agricultural extension, and production inputs.
The portfolio was announced following a meeting that included the finance minister, the governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, the director of the Agricultural Bank, and heads of commercial banks.
On May 23, the U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned of crop losses of up to 40% for the agricultural season due to risks including lower rainfall, damaged irrigation systems, and high costs of farming operations, fertilizers, and fuel.
Central Bank of Sudan Governor Amna Mirghani explained that the central bank will contribute 20% of the portfolio’s value, while the minimum contribution for each commercial bank will be 5% of the target amount.
She noted that the portfolio aims to finance the production sector by investing bank surpluses while ensuring the recovery of their capital and profits, stressing the importance of focusing on microfinance and developing value chains from production to export.
The government aims to cultivate 1.2 million feddans in the Gezira scheme, alongside 7.6 million feddans in Gedaref State, an increase of 100,000 feddans from last season, as well as 3.339 million feddans in White Nile State across rain-fed, irrigated, pump, and flood sectors.
Cereal production last year was estimated at 5.2 million tonnes, a 22% decrease compared to the previous season and 19% below the five-year average, with sorghum production dropping to 4 million tonnes and millet to about 768,000 tonnes, according to the FAO.
Agriculture and livestock employ 80% of the country’s workforce and contribute 31.8% of gross domestic product, according to data from the Central Bank of Sudan.