Farmers of an EU-funded project southeast of Sudan vow to continue with mechanised farming

Khartoum, Sudan, 30 October 2019- Today marked the last farmers’ field day and harvests celebration, that has been part of an annual tradition by sorghum smallholder farmers in Blue Nile state. This was part of an agriculture project funded through a 5.5 million Euros grant from the European Union.

The project which has been implemented since 2015 across Tadamon, Roseries and Wad al Mahi localities in Blue Nile state, has supported more than 3,000 smallholder farmers to undertake sorghum farming, using conservation agriculture, that saw the farmers increase their yields by up to 300 per cent.

Through the project, farmers were equipped with the knowledge, skills and technology as well as both off-farm and on-farm training aimed at empowering them to practice productive and high yielding agriculture.

The project particularly, strived to promote participation and contribution from the farmers in order to foster community ownership, and gradually reduce dependency. As such, World Vision linked farmers with microfinance and credit institutions in Blue Nile, through which they accessed credit to purchase the needed farming inputs, and also pay for some of the mechanised farming services that were offered through a contracted company.

“Even though the project ends, we are confident that the many farmers we have empowered over the last five years will continue to apply the farming technologies that have been transferred to them through the project,” said Vince Edwards, Country Programme Director for World Vision Sudan. “We leave behind at least 3,000 empowered farmers to become the champions of productive agriculture in this community,” he added.

Allawiya, 42 years old, one of the farmers in Roseries locality who has been part of the project since 2016 vowed to continue applying the technologies she learnt through the project. “I will particularly make use of the linkages we have created with the credit and microfinance institutions here in Blue Nile, and also farmers’ associations to continue with this method of agriculture,” the mother of nine quipped.

The project was designed such that farmers were contributing towards the cost of production with this increasing up to 40 per cent by 2019. It enabled World Vision and key stakeholders to contribute to strengthening the livelihoods, resilience and food security of the selected vulnerable households, and thus providing them with a means of providing basic needs for their children and the entire household.

The project was implemented by World Vision in partnership with Charity Organization for Rehabilitation and Development (CORD), a national NGO, with technical support from Landell Mills and the Blue Nile State government through the State Ministry of Agriculture. There was close collaboration with the Agricultural Research Centre, microfinance and credit institutions, the private sector, as well as the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in Blue Nile.

-ENDS-

About World Vision:

World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. We serve all the people regardless of their religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

Learn more about our work here: www.wvi.org/Sudan

Contact:
Lucy Murunga, Communications Manager
Lucy_Murunga@wvi.org +249 912167930 or +249 912 174 012