An emergency wheat production initiative in Sudan, funded by the African Development Bank and executed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has successfully increased wheat production in targeted areas by up to 70% over the past year. This significant boost comes amidst a looming hunger catastrophe exacerbated by ongoing conflict in the country.
The African Development Bank allocated $75 million to the WFP for the implementation of the Sudan Emergency Wheat Production Project over two years. The project has been instrumental in enhancing food security in a nation where agricultural output has been severely hindered by violence.
“This development comes at a critical time for Sudan, which is facing a looming hunger catastrophe due to the ongoing conflict that has slowed down production in the past agricultural season,” said Nnenna Nwabufo, the Bank’s Director General for the Eastern Africa region. “Given the great potential that agriculture offers even under circumstances of active conflict, and with famine in Sudan on the horizon threatening millions of lives, this project has brought a lot of hope.”
Nwabufo highlighted that this year alone, 22 percent of the national wheat demand was met through the project. “Its impressive performance has demonstrated that there are viable solutions to increasing domestic production to address the rising levels of hunger and acute malnutrition in the country,” she added. “We are pleased that the scaled-up delivery of certified climate-resilient wheat seed varieties and fertilizers to smallholder farmers in the target areas across the country was timely, saving many lives under the prevailing challenges of conflict.”
Mary Monyau, the Bank’s Country Manager for Sudan, elaborated on the scope and impact of the project. “This wheat production project, financed by the African Development Bank, became the heart of production at this critical moment in Sudan. It provided food security, yielding 645,000 metric tonnes of wheat this year, and also served as a critical crisis response intervention for internally displaced persons,” she explained. “More than 30% of the beneficiaries in the Northern State are IDPs.”
Monyau further noted that the project was built on earlier wheat production initiatives under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation project, implemented from 2018 to 2021. “We thank our development partner, the World Food Programme, for implementing this project and ensuring positive outcomes in at least five states, namely Gezira, Kassala, River Nile, White Nile, and Northern States, despite the active conflict in the country.”
Eddie Rowe, WFP Sudan Representative and Country Director, summarized the project’s impact: “The ongoing conflict in Sudan has had a devastating impact on agriculture. Sudan produced merely half the wheat it would have in a typical year. Thanks to funding from the African Development Bank, WFP was able to mitigate some of the impacts of this war on wheat production.”
The project distributed climate-adapted wheat seeds and fertilizers to over 170,000 smallholder farmers across five states during the 2023-2024 agricultural season. It covered areas in the relatively stable northern and eastern states as well as conflict-affected regions like Gezira and White Nile states. The project supported 16,000 newly displaced farmers, providing them with resources to rebuild their livelihoods, and supplied 12 harvester machines to farmers’ associations in River Nile and Northern states to reduce losses.
The yield of 645,000 metric tonnes of wheat this year accounted for 22 percent of Sudan’s total wheat consumption needs, with farmers reporting a 44 percent increase in productivity per hectare compared to the previous season.
As Sudan faces an unprecedented hunger crisis, with about 2.1 million people at high risk of severe food insecurity, investments in agricultural productivity are crucial.
