The Gezira Scheme as a Historical Pillar of Sudan's Food Security

The Gezira Scheme was once the backbone of the Al Jazirah agricultural sector and a vital source of food, livestock, and economic activity. It established Sudan's major agricultural region, with more than 10,000 square kilometers under cultivation. Its extensive irrigation system, sustained by the Sennar Dam, enabled large-scale cultivation without consuming fuel or electricity. However, since the war started in April 2023, this system has drastically collapsed, leaving millions without food security and putting hundreds of thousands at the brink of famine. To understand the human impact of this collapse, testimonies from farmers in Gezira show the devastating realities on the ground:

“We are talking about the largest agricultural project in Sudan, spanning over 2.2 million acres and providing sustenance for over 4.5 million people. Today, this project has become almost deserted. Only the poorest farmers and agricultural workers remain, as they cannot afford to relocate or travel to displacement areas.”

The farmer from Gezira shared how the war, which first started in April 2023 in Khartoum, rapidly expanded to Gezira and obstructed agricultural operations:

“At the start of the war, it reached three sections. With the arrival of the war in the city of Wad Madani, the entire region from Khartoum to southern Gezira, extending to Sennar and the Sennar Dam, became zones of military operations. This happened approximately at the end of the summer cropping season and the beginning of the winter cropping season. As a result, all the preparations for the winter season were disrupted.”

A video circulating shows Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers in a crops warehouse in Sennar.

Sennar is a city that sits along the Blue Nile and is historically significant both culturally and economically. Due to its high fertile land, Sennar supported agriculture and trade for centuries due to the Sennar Dam. The dam plays an important role in regulating water flow, supporting irrigation schemes, and stabilizing the local economy by ensuring a reliable water supply for both agricultural and domestic use.

Settlements around Sennar like the Kanabi, have been heavily effected by the disruption to the dam’s function as the RSF’s by dismantling it’s regulated water supply threatening the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and the communities that depend on these agricultural systems.

Weaponization of Food and Agriculture by the RSF and SAF

Interviews with displaced farmers reveal how the RSF deliberately targeted Sudan’s agricultural sector at a critical time, which exacerbated the crisis. Attacks by the RSF peaked towards the end of the summer cropping season and the beginning of winter planting, making vital unharvested and vulnerable to looting. Meanwhile, in Darfur, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) severed access to electricity, banking services, and telecommunications, further isolating communities and collapsing economic activity. Both parties have contributed to the displacement of Sudan’s food systems. While the RSF has imposed restrictions on the transport of agricultural goods to SAF-held territories, the SAF’s military strategy has left Darfur in a state of blackout, worsening the humanitarian impact. These actions have devastated food supply chains, obstructed economic recovery, and intensified the famine crisis. This disrupted vital agricultural cycles and compounded losses for farmers. A farmer shared:

“All crops and agricultural inputs were seized. Most of the summer crop harvests—such as sorghum, sesame, vegetables like onions, and others—were not harvested. Even when some crops were harvested later, they were confiscated."

As the war expanded it began to enclose irrigation canals, storage facilities and farmlands. Our interviewer explained how the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started controlling major key areas by looting stored harvests and damaging irrigation systems. Crops worth hundreds of millions of Sudanese pounds were lost, leaving farmers in a financial crisis. Moreover, the destruction extended beyond immediate crop losses. These attacks undermined future planting seasons and left many farmers unable to recover.

As for me, as a farmer, I was cultivating approximately 20 acres during the winter season. These 20 acres were planted with onions and lentils. However, before the crops reached the harvesting stage, the entire area of Muslimiya fell under the control of the Rapid Support Forces).

I contacted my partners who had cultivated onions and lentils with me, but communication was very difficult. Eventually, one of my relatives, who also planted onions, informed me that all the onions we had grown were taken. This loss amounted to hundreds of millions because, at that time, a sack of onions was valued at over 800,000 Sudanese pounds.

In general, all the residents of our village suffered losses. Even the rooftops of the houses were looted. I personally witnessed this after relocating to Faris Al-Kitab from Al-Hasahisa. Some of my friends had arrived in Al-Hasahisa with over 10 vehicles, and all those vehicles were lost. I was an eyewitness to this.

The 1998 Bahr el Ghazal famine was the last time Sudan experienced a crisis of this magnitude. The Bahr el Ghazal famine was largely driven by widespread agricultural looting carried out by the Muraheleen militia, which was composed of Arabized Baggara (cattle-herding) tribes. Their mission was to systematically target the Dinka tribe by looting, raiding, displacement, killing, and abduction. As a result, the 1998 Bahr el Ghazal famine crises killed roughly around 250,000 people. (HRW_1999)

The devastated supply chains and communities trapped in dependency patterns have created long-term instability for the nation. The situation now poses a significant recovery challenge, with the potential for long-term consequences if not addressed promptly. Sudan is already in a dire famine crisis, and without immediate, large-scale intervention, the suffering will escalate, deepening the collapse of future food systems and pushing hundreds of thousands more to the brink of famine. While the war was the main driver of the famine in Sudan, natural disasters exacerbated the crisis as well. In August 2023, Sudan experienced its heaviest rainfall in 40 years, which led to widespread flooding. This left significant portions of the Gezira Scheme ruined after being completely submerged. The subsequent destruction of irrigation systems also caused drought in some areas, which further weakened agricultural productivity.

Regarding this, according to the information, it’s possible that the rainfall during the first season of the current year was above average, or even exceeded the expected level, and was among the highest rainfall recorded in over a hundred years. Because of this, there were heavy clouds, floods, and storms. Among these storms and floods were those that affected Eastern Sudan, and also some floods that affected the Gezira area. According to a report from the FAO, over 34 million hectares were flooded, and this included land within the Gezira Project and the Managil area due to the flooding. This caused damage to infrastructure and shops, especially in mining areas. So, natural factors and climate change played a major role in the flooding, which in turn resulted in drought. The drought was due to the destruction of irrigation canals, causing the water not to reach the fields. As a result, some areas dried out, which affected the productivity of the land. The affected land was very weak, and as we mentioned earlier, the land that was supposed to be cultivated in the Gezira Project did not exceed five percent, and in the Managil area, it didn’t exceed twenty percent.

Additionally, it is also important to highlight that in case of Gezira, climate change bringing in floods and droughts, acts as a conflict multiplier. Specifically, the scarcity of food supplies, basic assets and arable land intensifies competition among communities. This is particularly evident in regions like Gezira, where agriculture underpins the local economy. Since unpredictable rainfall and prolonged droughts reduce agricultural output, this can exacerbate tension and result in further displacement and the famine crisis. Besides, weak climate adaptation policies also turns environmental stress into a driver of conflict and prolonged crises, which further destabilizes Sudan’s agricultural system.

Visual evidence shared on Facebook shows dry, cracked land in eastern Al-Jezira. This shows that farming has been stopped since the RSF arrived in the area in December 2023. This aligns with the Gezira Project governor's prior account of widespread infrastructure damage and the looting of agricultural resources intended for the 2023 season.

Harvest of Despair: War and the Unraveling of Sudan's Food Security

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