A crisis dispelled a ray of light that was looming in a long and dark tunnel. In a few days, the overall scene in Sudan was turned upside down, especially the economic scene, to dissipate hopes for growth that was expected in 2023, after 6 years of economic contraction, which amounted to 2.5% in 2023. .
The title of “the world’s food basket” is being devoured by war
The origins of Sudan’s economy, which is a traditional economy based on agriculture, which contributes 48% of the gross domestic product, and absorbs 61% of the country’s labor force.
This country owns 170 million acres of arable land, equivalent to 40% of the agricultural areas in the Arab countries combined, which qualified it to win the title of “the world’s food basket”.
The blazing flames of war devour the world’s food basket
However, the fires of war raging since mid-April between the army and the Rapid Support Forces are rapidly devouring the world’s food basket, leaving a large hole that has raised the fears of at least 60% of the Sudanese who depend on agriculture and grazing, of being exposed to the specter of famine in the absence of all the logistical aids that enable them. To engage in the summer agricultural season.
food sector
The most prominent repercussions of the reversal of the situation were on the food sector, which led to the closure of shops, hospitals, pharmacies, bakeries, and others. For the wheel of life to stop and families to lose their sources of livelihood, especially irregular employment.
World Food Program 2023
As the value of some basic commodities increased, including flour, sugar, cheese and oils, in addition to the unavailability of the rest of the commodities, which led to a shortage of food supplies, including milk and eggs in a country where a third of the population lives in hunger, according to the World Food Program 2023.
What about the economy?
And all of this comes amid economic heartbreak, as the current year bore positive expectations for a growth of 1.2 percent, in a growth it has experienced for six years, when the armed clash came to abort the chances of recovery in one of the poorest countries in the world, at least in the short term, according to the latest estimates of the International Monetary Fund, which It was issued only a few days before the outbreak of the conflict, while the public debt in Sudan came to about 151% in 2023 and recorded last year at about 127.6%.
Inflation rate
Inflation has risen to record levels of more than 400 percent. Most Sudanese complain of the difficulty of managing their living affairs
From the heart of reality.. The war is eroding the backbone of the Sudanese economy
The Sudanese agricultural sector and farmers did not recover from the shock of the stagnation of its agricultural crops and their low prices, except for the ordeal of the war, which threatened the summer agricultural season, which was about to begin. Farmers were unable, until this moment, to obtain the requirements of the agricultural process, such as seeds, fertilizers, fuel, and others.
Farming season to the abyss
Traditionally, farmers, especially those working in the rain-fed sector, begin in May the operations of preparing the land and providing improved seeds and seeds, after obtaining the necessary funding from the Governmental Agricultural Bank.
This forced most farmers to leave the most important agricultural season entirely or to significantly reduce the cultivated areas
Farmers withdrawal and a high food gap
Agricultural experts in Sudan believe that all the available data confirm that the agricultural season in Sudan is in the wind and is threatened with failure, which will lead to a high food gap that will exacerbate the deterioration of the already existing living conditions in the country, and they do not see a glimmer of hope to save the situation in light of the continuation of the war.