North Darfur communities report food, water gap

The agricultural season has failed and caused a food shortage in several localities in North Darfur, community leaders warned. And there was not enough rain for the drinking water reservoirs to fill up.

Community leaders in North Darfur reported a food gap in at least six out of all 18 localities in the state, because of the failure of the recent agricultural season. El Fasher, El Malha, Dar El Salam, El Taweisha, Kuma and Mellit localities are affacted.

They told Radio Dabanga that the main valleys which farmers use in the event there is a lack of rain in the agricultural season, did not fill up during the rainy season. They pointed out that Abu Hamra, Shagra and Solong valleys remained dry.

The reservoirs which many people depend on for drinking water in the summer, did not fill up either because of the poor rainfall in parts of North Darfur. This has led to very poor regeneration of pasture and water sources for livestock, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) reported in October.

Activists in North Darfur said they expect a famine and a severe drinking water crisis unless the authorities take the necessary precautions to cope with a potential shortage of food and water.

Meanwhile, crop merchants in El Fasher market told Radio Dabanga that the market runs low on imports of millet, sorghum, groundnut, sesame, dried tomatoes and okra and has been coping with a lack of purchase power.

A merchant said that the price of a sack of cereal has risen to SDG 1,200 ($180) and a sack of dried tomatoes costs SDG 1,800 ($269). A sack of sugar costs SDG 850 ($127).

Poor outlook

National cereal and cash crop harvests for the 2017/18 season are likely to be below the average production in parts of North Darfur, according to Fews Net. Their outlook for January 2018 varies between the 'Stressed' towards the 'Crisis' acute food insecurity phase. Overall, the main season rains performed very well over most parts of Sudan, and national harvest prospects are near average.