Sudan small farmers to be trained by IFAD

A number of small agricultural projects in Sudan will next year be funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Sudanese government, and the country’s private sector with an amount €8 million.

Mohamed Yousef, the main coordinator of IFAD’s Integrated Agricultural and Marketing Development Project (IAMDP), based in the capital of North Kordofan, told reporters in El Obeid on Friday that “the current conditions provide a favourable environment for the implementation of project activities in 2021”.

The project aims to support small farmers depending on rain-fed agriculture by opening international markets to market their peanut and sesame yields.

Yousef further explained that the main activities proposed in the 2021 plan are to enhance the quality of agricultural products and increase production rates by offering training on modern technologies and agribusiness to 15,000 small farmers in Sennar and North, South, and West Kordofan. In addition, agricultural cooperative societies will be established to facilitate market access for the farmers.

According to IFAD, agriculture generates 35-40 per cent of Sudan’s GDP, and employs 70-80 per cent of the labour force in rural areas. But productivity is low and variable because of erratic climate conditions, degraded soils, low poor technologies and lack of knowledge. In livestock husbandry productivity is low because of disease and parasites, sub-optimal breeding, and reduced access to traditional range resources.

Sudan has been a priority country for IFAD for more than 20 years. Loans help to increase agricultural production through environmentally sustainable practices and distribution of improved seeds, the international organisation explaines on its website.

Activities target the needs of rural poor people in the rain fed farming sector and help them build resilience against climate change. IFAD also supports improved access to services and markets in rural areas through infrastructure and is developing partnerships with private-sector and service-provider networks.

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