New Food System Integrated Program to support the transformation of food systems into nature-positive, resilient, & pollution free system.
The Great Youth Initiative for Food Security in Sudan
A worsening food crisis looms in Sudan amid economic deterioration, displacement and loss of crops The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) have warned that the societal impacts of conflict, economic crisis and poor harvest significantly affect people's access to food and that The number of people facing acute hunger in Sudan is likely to double to more than 18 million by September 2022. There are already worrying signs of diminishing access, affordability and availability of food for most people in Sudan, pushing more people into further poverty and hunger. Nearly 10 million people are acutely food insecure and need urgent assistance - according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the latest assessment projects conducted by the WFP, FAO indicate that nearly 10 million More than 21% of the total population of Sudan suffers from acute food insecurity and needs urgent humanitarian assistance in the period from June to September 2021.
This forecast duration corresponds to the major lean season for most of the regions analyzed where levels of food insecurity are the highest in any year in history.
According to the integrated classification of the stages of food security, the trends and seasonal shifts in this period include tribal conflict, low purchasing power (decreased purchasing power, some studies say 82%) and high food prices, which are the main drivers of food insecurity during the first forecast. In the lean season, about 2.7 million people will be in emergency (IPC phase 4) with approximately 7.1 million people in crisis (IPC phase 3) and over 16.5 million people in stress levels (IPC phase 3). The second of the Integrated Classification of Food Security Phases) of food insecurity. This represented an increase of 29.6 percent (from 5.5 million to 7.1 million) in crises (IPC Phase III) and 46.5 percent (from 1.8 million to 2.7 million) in emergencies (IPC Phase IV). Food security) compared to the current analysis period (April - May 2021 AD).
In the upcoming period, 130 localities are expected to witness a crisis situation (the third phase of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification). A total of 51 locations moved between stress (IPC Phase II) and crisis (IPC Phase III) while three localities moved between crisis (IPC Phase III) and emergency (IPC Phase IV). Integrated Classification of Food Security Phases). The total population in crisis (stage 3) or worse is 9.8 million, which is 2% higher than the number of people with acute food insecurity in the June-September 2020 IPC analysis (9.6 million).
In addition to seasonal fluctuations and disparities, inter-tribal conflict and expected displacement may affect several areas and also cause deterioration in food security, as happened in El Geneina locality in West Darfur State. The localities of Halayeb and Jaibit Al Maaden in the Red Sea state will remain in a state of emergency (IPC Phase IV) as it is currently due to the impact of drought on livelihoods and price shocks. There is a slight deterioration in the population in crisis (IPC Phase III) or worse, in Jabet Minerals by 5% while Halayeb is improving slightly by 5% due to aid and the availability of pastures.
The localities of El Buram and Heiban in South Kordofan State will also move from the crisis phase in the current period to a state of emergency due to the prolonged insecurity and poor access to some isolated areas. During this period, families will increasingly rely on markets to purchase basic foodstuffs at prices far above normal. Livestock productivity will be at seasonally low levels during the dry season from May to June.
North Darfur:
Most of the farmers in Darfur, especially east and south of El Fasher, in the areas of Al-Tawisha, Fachar, Umm Kadada, Darmararit and Umm Sa’una, their agriculture depends on rain, and they have in their agricultural activities mechanized agriculture and traditional agriculture. Feddans, and most of their crops are food security crops such as millet, corn, peanuts, cowpea, watermelons.....etc. The problem with mechanized farming has become that the cost of hours of plowing with tractors is on the rise, until the price of an acre hour has reached 20,000 Sudanese pounds in the season of this year, most could not Farmers were encouraged to use tractors, and therefore the cultivated areas were reduced by half and to a quarter, ie to 20 acres and to 10 acres, which reduced production. Farms in those areas also suffer from insect pests that destroy the crop in a short time, and the farmer is not able to buy pesticides, and the Ministry of Agriculture has limited capabilities, and often its intervention is late after eliminating the crop.
The farmer faces some problems in marketing his crop. After harvest, prices are low and rise after the crop is in the hands of merchants, so prices become high. Farmers and shepherds also suffer from a lack of suitable drinking water, after the end of the autumn season and after the valleys, pits and ponds are filled, and with the availability of grass. This causes the shepherd to travel great distances with his livestock of up to 30 kilometers, and this effort loses them from their weight and reduces their production to once in six, and contaminated drinking water is a source of diseases. Is this why the prices of sheep, calves and camels drop to low levels in the summer, and the owner of the animals cannot travel great distances in search of water and grass, so he sells part of his herd to obtain the necessities of life, especially with the rising prices of goods, medicines and others.
Traditional rain-fed agriculture:
Its cultivated area is estimated at about 23 million feddans. It depends on manual equipment, local seeds, shifting cultivation, and the lack of fertilizer use, which led to a lack of production and productivity. Despite this, it plays a major role in providing food in rural areas and in the production of food security crops such as sorghum 11% of Sudan’s production, millet 90%, yellow sorghum, and sesame 28%. It also contributes to the production of cash crops, which are agricultural exports by exporting sesame and gum arabic all Sudanese production and 80% of the world's production is groundnut, hibiscus and watermelon, and production fluctuates from one season to another according to the amount and distribution of rain. Most of the livestock in Sudan are intertwined with this type of agriculture, as the area that is not harvested as fodder for livestock and other animals is utilized. It is estimated that Sudan owns more than 110 million head of livestock, including at least 30 million head of sheep. In the vast areas of natural pastures and water resources.
About 65% of the country's population lives in rural areas and practices traditional agriculture. Most of this sector has remained as it was before independence in 1956, relying on manual equipment, local seeds, shifting cultivation, and not using fertilizers. The traditional sector extends in the east, central, west and south of the country and plays a major role in providing food through the production of maize, millet and yellow maize. It also contributes to the export earnings by exporting sesame, gum arabic, peanuts, hibiscus, melon seeds and some medicinal plants. The cultivated area in the Gaza Strip was estimated in the mid-fifties of about 5 million feddans, then increased to about 7 million feddans during the sixties, to about 12 million feddans during the eighties and to about 23 million feddans during the nineties.
Since an estimated part of the area is located in the northern areas that are scarce except for the rain, the area that is harvested may not exceed 70% on average in the area that is cultivated, then the area that is not harvested is used as fodder for ostriches. For the most part, the traditional sector has remained as it was before independence, as mentioned above, and has been characterized by low productivity. Millet is the main crop in the traditional sector, but it did not receive attention until the time of technical equipment, and therefore its productivity declined significantly. Despite the doubling of the area from about 1.7 million feddans in 1971/70 AD to about 5.1 million feddans in the year 2000-2001 AD, an increase of 200%, but the volume of production only increased by 60%, or about 432 thousand tons at the beginning of the period To about 686 thousand tons in the year 2004/2003 AD. And if the situation is better for maize, it also reflects the decline in productivity from about 219 kg per feddan in 1971/70 AD to about 246 kg per feddan only in the 2003/2004 season. While the area increased from about 1.5 million feddans to about 7.1 million feddans, at a rate of 373%, production increased from about 474 thousand tons to about 1752 thousand tons, or 271%. However, the situation with regard to peanuts is better, as the productivity decreased from about 297 kilograms per feddan in the year 1971/70 AD to about 248 kilograms per feddan in the year 2003-2004 AD, at a rate of 16.5%, while the decline in the percentage of sesame reached about 46%, or about 162 A kilogram of Rama per feddan in the 1971/70 season, to about 87 kilograms per feddan in the 2004-2003 season. In general, the production of oilseeds crops in general has deteriorated, despite the increase in the area allocated to them from about 4 million feddans in the season of 1970/1971 to about 8.4 million feddans in the 2000/2001 season, i.e. 110%, but production did not increase by 27%, or about 1.1 million tons in the 1971/70 season. To about 1.4 million tons in the 2000/2001 season, then the area declined to about 6.7 million feddans, the volume of its production in 2003/2004 was about 1.4 tons. However, the scarcity of resources and capabilities hindered the continuation of these projects, through a water harvesting project in the fifties, and an experimental farm was established during the sixties, then the project stopped. Then there were the Jebel Marra development projects and the Jebel Marra development project.
It was hoped that the plan would turn to the quarter of the century 2004 / 2028 AD to restructure the sector through cooperative systems, intermediate technology, integrated rural development approach and rural credit, with the completion of this by introducing insurance coverage to modernize and develop the sector and maximize its role in the Sudanese economy. It was unfortunate that the executive program for the development of the agricultural sector left agricultural cooperation to the civil sector and limited the role of the state initiating the establishment of associations and helping cooperative farmers to manage them, at least in the early stages.
博士 Abdelbasit Yagoub