Challenges of the Summer Farming Season and Harbingers of Famine – The Face of Truth – ✍️ Ibrahim Shaqlawi
The summer agricultural season remains in danger of failure… due to the lack of security and safety suffered by farmers, in addition to the lack of inputs and production mechanisms and the lack of financing… We are now at the beginning of July. and the government's provisions for the agricultural season are still weak and its plans are inadequate… and there are threats of failure. The season is getting longer and the repercussions, as everyone knows, are catastrophic. Agricultural and irrigation experts first expressed themselves with great dissatisfaction due to the blatant disregard of the readings of the international organization, which confirmed that Sudan is on the verge of certain famine due to the ongoing war in a number of agricultural producing states. the necessary measures and precautions are being taken.
For its part, the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources has ensured remotely all technical needs… and continues to provide water to the Al-Jazeera project and all irrigated projects, despite all the difficult circumstances and challenges faced by workers in the field, as there are fears that these efforts will be in vain and that the country will face famine, which is… It is coming… if there is no rapid response and decisive interventions… from the government, international partners and friends.
In this context, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press statement yesterday evening, Thursday, in which it indicated that the Rapid Support Militia, as described in the statement, prevented the arrival of seed shipments provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of Sudan. The United Nations to farmers in Sennar State for the rainy season, as described in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the aim of causing famine in the country … The statement also refers to the latest looting of the World Food Program stores in Wad Madani. In December, the looting of agricultural machinery and crops, and the closure of the main channels of the Al-Jazeera project, in addition to the sabotage of the Agricultural Research Authority and the Agricultural Gene Bank. This statement is extremely worrying because it clearly indicates the situation. threats related to the agricultural season.
It is known that agriculture in Sudan is divided into major types according to the type of irrigation or mode of production: rain-fed agriculture, which depends on rainfall, mechanized irrigated agriculture, which depends on artificial irrigation of the Nile and its tributaries, which represents (45%), and traditional agriculture. In the valleys and outskirts of villages, it represents (55%) and constitutes the largest percentage of cereal production in Sudan.
It is clear that (70%) in a number of national projects… Al-Jazeera, Al-Rahad, New Halfa and their extensions… suffer from low funding and security instability due to the war that the Sudanese army is waging against the Rapid Support Forces to subdue them after calling them rebels, who have remained. They attack citizens in agricultural production areas and confiscate their property, production mechanisms and agricultural seeds.
As we know, the summer agricultural season is considered the most important agricultural season in Sudan… because it falls in the fall and represents the fertile period during which agriculture develops and during which official and popular efforts and specialized organizations are deployed to produce the main cereal crops… which represent food security against hunger in addition to reviving the local economies of farmers and the state, such as food security crops and cash crops such as wheat, maize, millet, and cash crops such as sesame, hibiscus, peanuts, cotton and sunflower are diversified, which contributes to ensuring food security for rural communities in addition to providing foreign exchange to the government.
Despite this, Federal Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim denied the existence of a famine in Sudan or the possibility of a famine in the future, describing the situation, according to the Sudanese News Agency, as one characterized by a “food deficit,” as he put it. … and that preparations for the summer season are well underway and efforts are being made to provide agricultural production means, seeds and financing to farmers.
On the other hand, according to news agencies, specialized international and humanitarian organizations say that more than half of the Sudanese population needs urgent assistance and that the country has (18) million people facing severe hunger due to the current war since April 2023. It is noteworthy that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a report last month in which it indicated that the country's cereal production had decreased by about half during the year of the war in Sudan, as a consequence of the war that disrupted agricultural operations and increased production costs and inputs.
It is therefore necessary to resort to urgent solutions to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in the country in the food sector. This is reflected in the importance of providing safe routes for workers and farmers and securing agricultural projects so that the necessary assistance can be provided. to stabilize and continue the preparation of agricultural and productive operations and for farmers to resume agricultural activity and the urgent preparation of the agricultural season. This is in addition to seeking assistance from friendly and brotherly countries by providing them with means and mechanisms for production. The government must also accelerate the provision of necessary financing to farmers by directing banks and the private sector and stimulating producers. It also seeks the help of international organizations (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and other humanitarian organizations working on the ground to provide seeds. and fertilizers necessary for production. If these challenges are not addressed to ensure the success of this year's agricultural campaign, we will certainly face a humanitarian catastrophe whose title will not only be famine, but rather interference by neighboring countries in Sudan's agricultural lands because they are also affected by the stability of our country's agricultural production and seek to ensure food security for its population.
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Friday July 5, 2024
