Sudan’s vital date industry struggles in war-decimated economy

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KARIMA: The lush palm groves of Karima are a long way from Sudan's battlefields, but the war's effects are all too present, leaving farmers struggling...

This picture taken on September 17, 2023 shows a raging fire at the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower in Khartoum. AFPPIX: The lush palm groves of Karima are a long way from Sudan's battlefields, but the war's effects are all too present, leaving farmers struggling to find buyers for this year's harvest.

But five months into the war between Sudan’s rival generals, the country’s economic infrastructure has been destroyed and “buyers are scared”, farmer Al-Fatih al-Badawi, 54, told AFP. In Karima -- a town on the Nile River about 340 kilometres north of the capital Khartoum -- the groves bustle with young men climbing date palms, dropping bunches of the brown fruit, beloved by Sudanese, onto white sheets below.

“Our main market was Khartoum”, Badawi said. Without it, trade is at a standstill and the price for his crop is in freefall.In Sudan, one of the world's most underdeveloped countries, dates and other agricultural products were a foundation of the pre-war economy. In May, Haggar Group -- one of the agriculture sector's largest employers -- suspended operations and laid off thousands of labourers.

Fighting has killed nearly 7,500 people, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

 

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