Sudan farmers oppose ‘unfair and unrewarding’ wheat price

Sudan’s Minister of Finance and head of the Justice and Equality Movement, Jibril Ibrahim, declared the government’s official position in buying wheat crops from farmers at a price of SDG43,000 per 100kg sack.

In a press statement following his meeting on Tuesday with the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, Ibrahim called on Sudanese farmers to increase the cultivation of wheat in the upcoming agricultural season.

The El Gezira Farmers Alliance announced their rejection of the wheat price, describing it as “unfair and unrewarding” and demanded an increase in the price to a minimum of SDG60,000.

Abdeen Bargawi, the official spokesman for the Alliance, said in an interview with Radio Dabanga, that the “winter season faced many problems, including high production costs, failure to clean irrigation canals, which led to expensive irrigation through pumps, in addition to the state’s delay in providing production inputs on time, which will lead to lower production”.

The Alliance filed a lawsuit against the management of the El Gezira Agricultural Scheme, demanding compensation for the winter season due to their failure in fully completing the financing.

They also warned of a famine in the event they are not able to plant enough wheat due to the Minister setting the price the so low, as farmers lack the financial back-up to buy fertilisers for the coming agricultural season.