SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Sudanese farmers warn of failing harvests as hunger rises

9/6/2022: Reuters – Sudanese farmers warn of failing harvests as hunger rises, by Nafisa Eltahir

Reuters report that Sudanese farmers are unable to fund new crops after the government failed to buy wheat under promised terms, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine driving prices for inputs such as fertilizer and fuel to new highs.

Farmers that Reuters spoke to described the situation as desperate, and most said they feared bankruptcy and even prison for not paying back debts.

Farmer Nazar Abdallah, who took out loans assuming that the government would buy his wheat, fears he will go to jail due to unpaid debts as his wheat, which should have been sold in March 2022, is stored under a leaky roof and could be spoiled should it rain.  

A sorghum farmer added: “we buy the fertilizer and fuel at high prices and then when we come to sell our harvest we do not find a market. The government is impoverishing us”.