Cultivating crops and creating cash incomes in Sudan, even in the face of conflict

In the midst of the ongoing civil war, a partnership for vegetable development is making significant strides forward despite significant challenges. The SASAS-VINES project is helping to transform the lives of Sudanese farmers and foster resilience and hope among communities. Notwithstanding safety concerns, lack of communications, electricity, fuel and banking service, WorldVeg and partners navigate the difficulties and offer a beacon of hope for mainly women and youth vegetable producers in the target regions. And the focus on sustainable interventions, capacity building and improving market access, is providing a strong foundation for continuing success.

Farmers from the Haram Women and Youth Group in Kassala State proudly showing their okra harvest

The Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS): Vegetables for Income, Nutrition and Employment in Sudan (VINES) project is an initiative of the CGIAR Center CIMMYT, funded by USAID, and implemented by the World Vegetable Centre with NGO partners Practical Action, Mercy Corps Sudan, Zenab Women for Development, and JASMAR. The project was officially launched in February 2023, but after fighting erupted around Khartoum in April, activities shifted to Gedaref, Kassala and Blue Nile states. Other CGIAR Centers and NGOs are also involved in related SASAS initiatives. Implementing partners play the pivotal role, by providing training, vegetable seeds, biofertilizers, tools and drip irrigation that improve productivity so farmers grow and sell more vegetables to sustain their families.

An example of impacts achieved

With support from WorldVeg through Practical Action, the Haram Women and Youth Group in Kassala State is one example success story. With 25 members, mostly women, they planted one hectare with jute mallow (a locally adapted green leafy vegetable) in January 2024 and could begin harvesting only three weeks after sowing. Besides what they consumed themselves, from sales they earned an astonishing 2.5 million Sudanese pounds (US$2,100) – a significant sum! This met their immediate and most urgent needs, and also allowed them to invest in planting okra, sweet pepper, tomato and other vegetables. By May they had already earned a further 2 million Sudanese pounds (US$1,700) from okra sales alone, and as this crop can be harvested regularly for 8-9 months, the women expect much more income to come. The group also converted part of their land into a demonstration site so they could teach other farmers about vegetable production, postharvest handling and value addition.

Musa Ibrahim Musa, Practical Action’s coordinator for Kassala, Red Sea, and Kordofan states, has been instrumental in these efforts. His work focuses on training smallholders in sustainable farming practices, crop rotation, pest management, drip irrigation, and compost preparation, supported by WorldVeg, while also working with the CGIAR Centers CIP and ILRI to integrate vegetable, potato and livestock production for increased diversity and sustainability. And working with Ministry of Agriculture’s Department of Technology Transfer, demonstration plots and farmer field schools are central to project successes.

Women farmers being trained on vegetable drying and processing, and at one of the aggregation centers

In collaboration with the Solar Foods company, solar driers were introduced to promote vegetable drying, grinding, packaging and branding for value addition, and cool storage units to reduce postharvest losses. These are situated in four vegetable aggregation points that were also constructed, where farmers can sort, package, label and sell their produce collectively. In addition, to facilitate market access, the project established 13 vegetable business networks in Kassala, helping producers to overcome the challenges they face, together.

Looking back, and looking forward…

In June 2024, project partners gathered in Nairobi to assess SASAS-VINES project achievements, impacts, challenges, and ways forward, including representatives from the World Vegetable Center, Practical Action, Zenab Women for Development, Mercy Corps and the Solar Foods company. In his opening remarks, Gabriel Rugalema, WorldVeg Associate Director General for Africa at the World Vegetable Center, acknowledged the difficulties in project implementation under such conditions and commended the team for their dedication despite the conflict that forced them to adapt quickly, but that they did so very effectively. He noted that the focus on vegetables which can be harvested after only a short time is especially advantageous in a volatile environment, compared to crops like maize that require longer to mature. Also, innovations displayed by the team in constructing vegetable drying and cooling facilities and installing drip irrigation was particularly lauded, and though modest in scale, have had significant impacts and offer hope for scaling in the future.

SASAS project partners reflecting on project successes and ways forward in Nairobi, June 2024

Project manager Wubetu Legesse, highlighted that the project had established more than 80 vegetable business networks and farmers groups across three states, reaching about 40,000 direct beneficiaries. These enabled farmers to grow food for themselves and earn income from sales that helps them meet their needs, with a significant impact on improving livelihoods amid the ongoing conflict. Hafiz Ahmed, WorldVeg consultant who monitors the project and works closely with partners in Sudan, shared how eager farmers are for peace to improve their livelihoods, to which another participant noted “the first peace is the peace of food”, underscoring the fundamental importance of food security as a foundation for broader peace and stability.

The project is due to end in September 2024 -and while so much has already been achieved even in the face of such challenges – so much could still be done. Partners collectively hope that donors can be found who can support the continuation of activities and scale them to more areas, so more people in Sudan can benefit from producing vegetable crops and generating cash incomes, even in the face of conflict…

The Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS): Vegetables for Income, Nutrition and Employment in Sudan (VINES) project is an initiative of the CGIAR Center CIMMYT, funded by USAID, and implemented by the World Vegetable Centre with NGO partners Practical Action, Mercy Corps Sudan, Zenab Women for Development, JASMAR, and Solar Foods.