AfDB group commits nearly $74 million to boost wheat production
The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors sanctioned $73.81 million on December 9, 2022, in Abidjan to finance the Sudan Emergency Wheat Production Project under the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility.
The Sudanese economy is predominantly reliant on agriculture, which constitutes 60% of total exports and contributes a third to the nation’s GDP. Over half of the nation’s labor force is engaged in this sector.
Sudan, the third-largest country by land area, has historically grappled with significant food insecurity due to a multitude of factors, including economic decline and hyperinflation, population displacement resulting from conflict, and inadequate agricultural yields.
The ongoing global surges in food and energy costs, which have also severely affected the country, have exacerbated the situation. Since 2021, sorghum and millet prices have escalated by 150–200%, while wheat prices have nearly tripled. This is largely because 60–70% of the wheat utilized in Sudan is imported, mainly from Russia and Ukraine. Inflation has been intensified by a substantial rise in energy and fertilizer prices.
The African Development Bank’s financing will facilitate the extensive acquisition and distribution of certified seeds of varieties suitable for the climate, fertilizers, and extension services for smallholder farmers. The project is expected to boost wheat production from the current 630,000 tonnes to 1.52 million tonnes in just two years. Approximately 400,000 smallholder farming households will benefit, with 40% led by women. The spillovers along the value chains for wheat, seeds, and fertilizers will also advantage nearly 800,000 casual laborers.
“Sudan, boasting the largest irrigated area in sub-Saharan Africa, possesses immense potential not only to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat but also to emerge as an exporter,” states Nnenna Nwabufo, the African Development Bank’s Director General for East Africa.
The project aims at smallholder farmers, seasonal laborers, seed producers, and agricultural traders in Sudan’s primary wheat cultivation areas, such as Al-Jazira, New Halfa, Upper Nile, and White Nile, which feature extensive irrigated regions and demonstrate resilience to climate change.
The World Food Programme in Sudan will carry out the project.
“The Sudan Emergency Wheat Production Project (SEWPP) will benefit from the synergies and insights gained from prior projects financed by the Bank in the country,” remarked Mary Monyau, the African Development Bank’s Country Manager in Sudan. Notable among the successful initiatives is the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Wheat initiative (2018-2021), which has revitalized the Sudanese wheat sector and elevated yields from 1.5 to 2.3 tonnes/hectare and production from under 350,000 tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes in just five years (from 2014 to 2019).
In May 2022, the Bank established the $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Facility to assist African countries in averting an impending food crisis induced by the disruption of food supplies resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.
With a total commitment of $486.2 million, the Bank currently operates 19 projects in Sudan. The agricultural sector benefits the most, receiving investments totaling $272.3 million, or 56% of the portfolio.
