Sudan's farmers battle war, climate change as Nile dwindles

Sudanese farmers are grappling with a devastating trifecta of conflict, economic disruption, and climate change, leading to widespread hunger and the abandonment of arable land.

The nation's farmland, capable of alleviating a significant portion of the world's hunger crisis, lies fallow as farmers become casualties of escalating violence. Since April 2023, the conflict between the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary forces has claimed over 200,000 lives and plunged nearly 20 million people into critical levels of hunger.

Compounding the crisis, a more distant conflict between Iran and the United States has severely impacted fuel and fertilizer supplies. Disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz have caused prices to skyrocket, making essential agricultural inputs unaffordable for many.

Adding to the farmers' plight is the powerful El Niño climate pattern, which is strengthening in the Pacific Ocean. This phenomenon influences global wind and rain patterns, and in Sudan, it has led to delayed crucial rains. Consequently, water levels in the life-giving Nile River have dropped precipitously.

Farmer Al-Tigani Fadlallah, located south of the capital Khartoum, pointed to an island in the Nile that should typically be submerged by July. "The water usually covers it by July, but you can see it even now," he told AFP, viewing the sunbaked sandbank as a dire omen for his parched crops. Across Sudan, from the northern fields near Egypt to the Ethiopian border, farmers report that the water they desperately need is neither rising from the riverbanks nor falling from the sky. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization confirms the season is unfolding under heightened climate risk, with delayed and below-average rainfall, alongside prolonged dry spells.

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The water usually covers it by July, but you can see it even now.