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Agriculture
Agriculture remains the dominant sector of the Suda-
nese economy, directly contributing around 32% of
the nation’s GDP, It drives activity in service sectors
such as transportation, agro-industries and com-
merce, which together account for another 38% of
the economy. Although eclipsed in the past decade
by the oil boom Sudan enjoyed until mid-2008 ag-
ricultural production has continued to rise steadily
since 2000. This is partly due to demand from China,
which accounts for roughly half of exports, as well
as an ever-present domestic need for food in light
of a population growth rate that nearly doubles the
world average. As such, the main challenge for the
sector today is to find rapid but sustainable methods
to increase production.
The sector will play a central role in Sudan’s eco-
nomic future, due to the fact that agriculture is the
main determinant of yearly changes in poverty levels
and food security of the population. Robust growth
is expected in the coming decade, largely thanks to
stabilisation and structural reform measures imple-
mented at the IMF’s urging in the 2000s. The posi-
tive growth outlook is also strengthened by macro-
economic trends. The past century has seen real
agricultural product prices steadily fall on a global
scale, as technology has been allowing supply to in-
crease faster than demand – this decade, however,
the trend has been reversed, with demand starting
to outpace supply in light of worldwide population
growth, weather-related production shortfalls, and
reductions in stock levels.
Cultivable land in Sudan is estimated to be around
200 million feddans (about 84 million hectares). Of
this vast area, only 30 million feddans have so far
been exploited, in other words, an equivalent of 15%
of the total cultivable land for the different farming
methods nationwide.
The main agricultural exports are cotton and gum
Arabic, the former being Sudan’s chief export com-
modity in any sector and an integral contributor to
the economy at large. Sorghum is the principal food
export, while wheat is grown largely for domestic
consumption. Sesame seeds and peanuts are mak-
ing the transition from domestic to international pro-
duce, joining a diverse plethora of crop and livestock
exports: sugarcane, mangoes, bananas, sweet pota-
toes, sheep, and camels, amongst others.
Irrigation Farming
Irrigation farming is mainly used in the irrigation
projects between the banks of the White and Blue
Niles. The Gezira scheme and giant Al-Managil ex-
tensions are in an area of 2.1 million feddans out
of a total irrigable area of 4 million feddans. Hence,
this project is considered the largest farm under one
administrative board in the world. Among the other
modern canal-irrigated projects are al-Rahad project
and New Halfa project in the eastern states, Kenana
Sugar, Hajar Asalaya and Gharb Sennar sugar cane
plantations in the central state. Most of the irrigation
projects are administratively run by the public sec-
tor, but a few of them are run by the private and
co-operative sectors. The main irrigation farming
crops are cotton, wheat, sorghum and sugar cane.
As Africa’s third biggest producer of sugar, the Suda-
nese government has been progressively entering in
joint ventures with private investors to enlarge the
sugar fields near the Nile River, including the Kuwait
Investment Authority and the government of Saudi
Arabia, who are both one-third shareholders in Ke-
nana Sugar.
Rain-Irrigated Farming
Rain-irrigated farming is concentrated in the eastern
and central states and in the southern parts of Dar-
fur and Kordofan states, and it is generally mecha-
nised. There is also a conventional method of farm-
ing known as “shifting cultivation” which is seasonal
and exists in the central parts of the country and the
southern states. The mechanised rain-irrigated pro-
jects and the conventional ones are usually admin-
istratively run by the private sector. However, there
are some local and regional companies and corpo-
rations that work in this field. The crops cultivated in
these projects vary from sesame, sorghum, cotton,
groundnut, kardadi, millet and corn, to sunflower and
sugar.
Plantations for other crops such as rice, coffee, tea
and some garden farmed legumes – bean, broad
bean, lentils, peas and vegetables – have also been
developed. Orchard fruits such as dates, mango,
lemon, orange, grapefruit and guava are available
throughout the year.
MAIN COMPANIES
ARAB AUTHORITY FOR AGRICULTURAL IN-
VESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (AAAID)
Ali Bin Saeed Al-Sharhan
President of AAAID
Osman Digna St. intersection with AlBaladia St.,
PO Box 2102, Khartoum
Tel: + 249 187 096100
Fax: + 249 187 096295