Sudan farmer sit-ins ‘leave crops at mercy of authorities’

The highway linking Egypt and Sudan has been closed for the second day in a row owing to protests by farmers in Ed Debba locality in Sudan’s Northern State, against the surge in electricity costs.

Sources confirmed that farmers were planning an escalation in the coming days, by also closing roads in Merowe, Dongola, El Golid, and El Borgeig localities.

Participants in the sit-in near El Multaga in Ed Debba told Radio Dabanga, that the fertilised wheat is in the last stages before it needs to be irrigated, and if that does not occur in the coming days, the crop will fail.

The farmers explained that their primary demand is for a return to the original electricity tariff. Additionally, due to their productive output, they demanded the granting of two per cent of the electricity afforded to the Merowe Dam, as well as 30 per cent of the electricity production as agreed on in the Northern Track protocol of the Juba Peace Agreement.

Omar Hemeida, Coordinator of the El Debba Resistance Committees, told Radio Dabanga that the Governor of Northern State, Awad Gadoura, addressed those at the sit-in, promising that he would raise their demands to the authorities and find a solution.