Nicolai Haugsted
Another nation faces the consequences of the war in Iran.
Fields across Sudan are being left partially unplanted as soaring fuel and fertiliser costs push farmers deeper into crisis during another year of war and food shortages.
According to Reuters, Agricultural workers and industry experts say price shocks linked to the conflict involving Iran are worsening conditions inside Sudan, where civil war has already devastated farming regions, displaced communities and strained food supplies for millions of people.
Farmers interviewed by Reuters described a growing struggle to afford diesel, fertiliser and transportation ahead of the summer planting season. Concerns now extend beyond domestic food production to export crops such as sesame and gum arabic.
Fertiliser Prices Surge
Dependence on imported agricultural supplies has left Sudan particularly exposed to turbulence in the Middle East.
United Nations data shows more than half of Sudan’s fertiliser imports normally come from Gulf countries, while fuel supplies are now almost entirely imported due to the country’s internal conflict.
Sadig Elamin, senior food security analyst for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Sudan, warned that the regional crisis has added “salt to the wound.”
He said agricultural output could decline by “not less than 40%.”
Warnings come as roughly 19.5 million people in Sudan already face severe hunger levels, according to international monitoring groups backed by the UN. Famine risks remain in several areas of the country.
Farmers Say Profits Have Disappeared
Southern parts of Omdurman had briefly offered signs of recovery after the Rapid Support Forces were pushed out of areas near Khartoum last year.
Farmers had hoped damaged irrigation systems and abandoned fields could return to production during the current planting season.
Rising costs have since changed those calculations.
National surveys cited by farmers show fertiliser prices have increased by 67 percent compared with last year, while diesel costs have more than doubled.
“At that price we don’t make a profit, you spend your whole profit on the diesel,” farmer Bashir Ismail said.
Omar al-Ebeid, secretary of a local farmers’ committee in the Jamuia agricultural scheme, said only 500 of the area’s 10,000 feddans had been planted midway through the season.
War Damage Continues to Hit Agriculture
Large sections of Sudan’s agricultural sector remain heavily damaged after more than three years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
Western regions including Darfur and Kordofan continue to experience instability, looting and attacks on farming infrastructure.
“There is no funding for farmers, no machinery for planting and ploughing the land, and no security because the RSF and other gangs loot the crops and demand money at every checkpoint,” displaced farmer Mohamed Adam told Reuters from North Kordofan.
RSF representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Previous statements from the group have denied accusations of targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Farmers from several regions reported tractors being stolen during raids, labourers recruited into armed groups and communities forced to flee agricultural land before planting preparations could begin.
Government Faces Pressure to Intervene
Mohamed Balla, who heads a farmers’ collective in the Gezira scheme, criticised authorities for failing to restore damaged irrigation systems after fighting subsided in parts of central Sudan.
“The RSF left in February of last year. Nothing has been fixed since then,” he said.
Balla also warned that falling crop profits are making cultivation financially impossible.
“Two sacks of wheat buy you one sack of urea. So we won’t grow it again,” he said.
Sudan’s state-backed Agricultural Bank has faced criticism from farmers who say financing conditions are pushing producers into debt. Bank officials told Reuters they are working on measures intended to ease pressure through longer repayment periods and improved access to supplies.
Agriculture Ministry official Fatma Yousif said authorities are also exploring support for fuel costs while rehabilitation work continues on irrigation canals and water pumps in affected farming regions.
Khalid Abdellatif, director at agricultural supplier CTC Group, said transport risks and instability have sharply increased operating costs, especially for small-scale farmers already struggling to survive the conflict.
