Sudan mandates sorghum planting to avert famine as conflict disrupts agriculture

August 4, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s agriculture minister on Sunday ordered modern irrigation companies to dedicate 10% of their land to sorghum production, seeking to address a growing food crisis as conflict disrupts farming.

The United Nations declared a famine in a camp for displaced people in North Darfur on August 1, raising alarms about the risk of widespread hunger as fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group enters its fifth month.

Agriculture Minister Omer Al-Beshri also directed regional authorities to supply seeds for the mandated sorghum planting, citing RSF incursions into key agricultural areas and the disruption of supply chains.

“The RSF’s encroachment on production areas and the threat to the season necessitates urgent action,” Al-Beshri said, according to a government statement.

The conflict has brought farming to a standstill in parts of Al Jazirah and Sennar states, breadbasket regions where the RSF has seized control of most territory. Looting of machinery, fuel shortages and insecurity have prevented farmers from planting crops.

The governor of the Al Jazirah irrigation project, Ibrahim Mustafa, said cultivated land has shrunk to 505,000 acres this season, less than half of the 1.1 million acres initially targeted.

He accused the RSF of destroying irrigation infrastructure, tractors and other equipment, and looting seeds and fertilizers.

The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White Nile state, another key agricultural region, has also seen a significant drop in cultivated land, according to Yasir Mukhtar, a representative of the regional agriculture ministry. Only 1.3 million acres have been planted, well short of the 3.3 million planned.