Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region
109
3.6 Sudan
Sudan is a country that has, for many decades, suffered from high levels of poverty and food
insecurity. It currently imports over 50 percent of its food requirements, which is provided by
the private sector and international humanitarian agencies (mainly the World Food
Programme (WFP) and Fighting Hunger Organizations).
Agriculture has steadily declined to contribute to the country’s GDP since 1999: from
49.8 percent in 1999 to 38.7 percent in 2003, 35.3 percent in 2007 and 31.1 percent in 2009
(CBS (2014a)). The reason for the decline in the agriculture sector’s contribution to the GDP is
ascribed to the oil sector, which overtook in terms of contributions to the national economy.
The oil sector, contributes about 23.8 percent of the country’s GDP, takes more than 90 percent
of total export earnings, leaving the remaining 10 percent for other exports including
agricultural exports.100
In Sudan, there are over 60 million hectares of arable land, managed by over 70 percent of
rural households. The economy of Sudan is therefore best described as an agrarian economy
with agriculture being the backbone for further development. It is still the mainstay of the
country’s economic growth, responsible for maintaining the livelihood of about 70 percent of
the population and providing about 50 percent of the non-oil export earnings. Crop production
contributes approximately 45 percent of the GDP, while livestock contributes most of the
remainder, with forestry and fishery contributing just over 5 percent. Sudan also has a large
and rapidly growing population of livestock (estimated at 140 million heads for North Sudan in
2006). The livestock herds, which include camels, sheep and goats (raised in desert and semi-
desert zones) and cattle (bred in the medium rainfall savannah and in the Upper Nile
floodplain), are owned mainly by pastoral and agro-pastoral groups. Livestock is raised under
semi-nomadic and nomadic systems with traditional movements occurring between wet and
dry season grazing areas. The livestock sector is exposed to several risks including decreasing
pasture as a result of drought and desertification, the expansion of growing crop, the shortage
of cattle routes and the lack of water for animals. Limited veterinary services and inadequate
activities to facilitate breeding also negatively affect the performance of the livestock sector.101
For Sudan, agricultural development is vital to achieving the MDGs, in particular those relating
to extreme poverty, hunger and the environment. Unfortunately, in recent years, agriculturists
have been observing serious neglect by the Sudanese government and international donors, in
terms of improving agricultural statistics and development. Integrating agriculture data into
the Sudanese national statistical system and making them compatible with data from other
sectors on production, consumption, capital formation or employment is crucial to promote
informed decision-making processes. Hence it is important for encouraging investment and
effective international aid that lead to appropriate policy interventions, enhancing
competitiveness of the agricultural value chains that apt to meet the MDGs.
The same situation applies to the Unit of Agriculture Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Irrigation (MoAI), which is currently in the midst of its national strategy for 2012-2016. Its
final report is due in February 2014. The National Statistics Development Strategy of the
100 FAO, 2014c and IMF, 2013.
101 IFAD, 2014 and IMF, 2013.