The Government of Sudan led a Validation Workshop to discuss the first draft of Sudan’s National Agriculture Investment Plan among the plan’s stakeholders in Khartoum. The Plan was developed in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP) is a five-year investment plan for Sudan that maps the investments and activities needed to achieve 6% annual growth for the agricultural sector by 2020. The Plan’s key objectives include: promotion of exports of crops and livestock, increase productivity and efficiency of Sudan’s agricultural sector; improve national food security and nutrition; reduce rural poverty by 50 percent by 2020 and generate job opportunities (especially for youth and women); encourage settlement in the rural areas to achieve balanced economic growth; and development and protection of natural resources to ensure its renewal and sustainability.

The NAIP is a key component of Sudan’s participation in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a pan-African initiative signed by Sudan in 2013, which commits the country to increasing government spending on agriculture to 10% of GDP by 2020.

“After an extensive effort since 2013, the NAIP draft now offers an important opportunity for Sudan to transform our economy,” said His Excellency, Mr. Yagoub Mohamed Eltaib, State Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. “We are committed to the 10% of GDP agricultural spending target, and will support the Plan so that it can be implemented and the agricultural sector can achieve its true potential.”

The NAIP pays close attention to the sector’s core challenges related to agriculture and agro-industry development, and includes initiatives to increase access to local food, reduce poverty and malnutrition and boost income generation for rural families, especially for smallholders. 

“Investment in agriculture is essential for Sudan’s food and nutrition security, and we are very pleased to see that the NAIP pays close attention to the needs of the rural poor,” said Rosanne Marchesich, Acting FAO Representative in Sudan. “FAO will continue to support the Government of Sudan in the ongoing collaboration, cooperation and coordination needed to get the NAIP finalized and implemented, and its potential realized, under the full leadership of the Government.” 

The workshop participants discussed the plan and provided feedback for its finalization and implementation. Following the workshop, the NAIP will be finalised and will be submitted by the Government of Sudan for an External Review by the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).  The Government of Sudan will then convene a meeting among NAIP stakeholders, anticipated for early December, to discuss the final NAIP and the results from the External Review, before the NAIP is published and disseminated and resource mobilization activities will begin.