Warnings against Winter Season Failure

Sudan Events – Nahid Oshi

Sudanese economist Dr. Kamal Karrar has noted that agricultural sector has been impacted by the repercussions of the ongoing war, adding in a statement to (Sudan Events) that the war delivered a fatal strike against the sector at a time when agriculture has been facing persistent challenges in the areas of funding, irrigation, and inputs all along the period before the outbreak of the war.

However, the war has exacerbated these problems and other issues have emerged, as the banking system has almost collapsed, and there are no funds even to pay salaries, let alone to finance agriculture. He also pointed to the status of semi absence of the executive as a situation created by the war, and the disruption of the authorities concerned with agriculture.
He said these indicators signpost a dark reality facing the winter season, and the farmer is in an unenviable situation.
He noted that Khartoum used to represent a large consumer market for agricultural produce, and now this market no longer exists, therefore agriculture also faces the problem of marketing, pricing, and the decline in the purchasing power of the national currency, the pound.
He underlined that the war has a significant negative impact on all productive sectors, noting that the indicators of famine, its spread are imminent. He pinpointed that those affected by this situation are in the increase, and currently exceeded (18) million people.
He further pointed out that the cultivated area in the summer agricultural season throughout Sudan amounted to only (22) million fedans out of a total of (63) million fedans, that’s (35%) of the target