How Sudan Fought the Aftermath of Drought
Since the terrible drought, which hit Northeast Africa in 1984/85 and caused mass starvation, agriculture in Sudan has improved considerably. Working closely with ICARDA, the country is now nearly self-sufficient in wheat, and has significantly improved its production of faba bean. This is a dream come true for Sudanese people and ICARDA.
	Agricultural research and development is helping to increase food self-sufficiency and improve the nutrition and income of the rural poor in Sudan. In the early 1960s, Sudan was considered a potential breadbasket for Africa and the Middle East. The country has very extensive grazing areas, large areas of productive rainfed land, and enormous potential for irrigation from the Nile and its tributaries. But Sudan has often failed to produce enough food for its population, largely due to civil conflicts, periodically adverse climatic conditions and poor agricultural systems. ICARDA's cooperation with Sudan dates back to 1979 when the Nile Valley Project (NVP) was established. It is aimed at contributing to food security and increasing the incomes of smallholder farmers by improving crop yields and quality in Sudan. ICARDA works with Sudanese scientists to develop germplasm and improved technologies that enable Sudanese farmers to increase crop productivity and yield stability in a sustainable manner, and fosters human resource development through training. The Sudan/ICARDA collaborative program focuses on four important food crops: faba bean, lentil, chickpea, and wheat. ICARDA's backstopping has played a substantial role in the development of improved cultivars released by the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Sudan. They include seven new cultivars of faba bean, eight of chickpea, three of lentil, and five of wheat. Foul muddamis, the most common faba bean recipe, being sold on the roadside in Sudan. Underlying the challenge of increasing food production is the bigger challenge of access of the poor to sufficient food at prices they can afford. Faba Bean Suitable cultivars have been identified for different climatic conditions. Cultivar 'SM-L' is suitable for areas in the far north with milder temperatures. For northern Sudan, cultivars like 'Basabeer' and 'Hudeiba 93' that tolerate water shortage have been found suitable. An improved production package for faba bean (early sowing, frequent irrigation, insect pest control, and proper weed control) was developed by the Sudan/ICARDA program and has been demonstrated to farmers for several years. In addition, faba bean has been introduced as a cash crop in North Dar Fur region in the far west, where yields achieved are reasonably high (2.26-3.21 t/ha). Lentil On-farm trials of lentil. The trials have helped in the development of locally-appropriate technology packages, and have been a major factor in Sudan’s march towards self-sufficiency in this important crop. Collaborative research with ICARDA has promoted lentil production in northern Sudan where farmers grew little of the crop before. To avoid paying a multi-million-dollar import bill, the government encouraged collaborative on-farm research to demonstrate production potential, facilitated farmers' access to credit to purchase inputs, and offered guaranteed prices. As a result, in the period 1989-93, production area increased from 420 to 10,000 hectares, yields improved from 0.8 to 1.4 t/ha, and total production increased from 340 to about 14,000 tonnes. This helped reduce lentil imports from over 9000 to about 700 tonnes. There was a setback, however, in the following two years, possibly due to bad weather, constraints in institutional support, and change in policy emphasis. For example, lentil is traditionally grown in the Nile River Governorate, particularly in the Rubatab area. Its productivity increased by 31% during the period 1990-1995 as a result of the adoption of technology package. Due to several adverse factors, however, productivity had been sharply declining (0.4-0.5 t/ha) thereafter. Research continues and hundreds of lentil accessions are being evaluated every year for adaptability and high yield. A new variety, named 'Nedi', was released in 1998 that achieved an average yield of 1.7 t/ha at Shendi and Hudeiba research stations. Chickpea Over the past 15 years, Sudan and ICARDA have jointly made remarkable progress in chickpea improvement research and technology transfer, making use of germplasm provided by ICARDA and its sister center the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Evaluation of improved lines at Hudeiba and Shendi stations in 1983/84-1986/87 led to the release of the kabuli variety 'Shendi-1' (line ILC 1335) for farmers in northern Sudan. On-farm evaluation of chickpea lines at Rubatab, Wad Hamid, and Jebel Marra in 1990/91-1992/93 led to the release of line ILC 915 under the name 'Jebel Marra-1'. Evaluation of large- and medium-seeded kabuli chickpea lines has led to the release of large-seeded lines FLIP 88-36C and FLIP 88-44C. On-station breeding at Hudeiba and Shendi resulted in many promising medium- and large-seeded genotypes with 50-100% higher grain yield than the checks ('Shendi-1' and 'Jebel Marra-1'). 'Atmor', 'Salawa', and 'Wad Hamid', which are resistant to wilt and root-rot diseases, were released in 1996; and 'Matama' was released in 1998. Apart from selection and breeding, researchers addressed major agronomic aspects of chickpea cultivation including optimum sowing time, crop establishment, nutrition, and irrigation. Wheat Self-sufficiency is improving in Sudan, thanks to the development and adoption of improved varieties and production technologies. Wheat In collaboration with Sudan and other countries involved in the Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program, ICARDA has established a Thermo-Tolerance Network to enhance wheat productivity by improving its adaptation to high temperatures. Evaluation studies led to the identification of several high-yielding cultivars adapted to heat stress, including 'Seri 82', 'Anza', 'El Neilain', 'Condor's/Baladi #18', 'Attila', and 'Pfau/Vee #5'. In the short-winter zones of Sudan, wheat is now an attractive crop as it has few competitors for labor during the periods of peak demand and, in addition to generating cash, is a leading import-substitute crop at the national level. Wheat self-sufficiency, which increased from 13% in the mid 1980s to over 60% in 2002, is a realistic possibility for Sudan. ICARDA is assisting Sudan in an extensive program of on-farm verification trials and demonstrations of production technologies. Seed Security An efficient seed-supply system can help ensure that the results of agricultural research, in the form of quality improved seed, are made available to farmers. Training of staff from national seed programs has been a key activity of ICARDA since 1995. Using a train-the-trainers approach, ICARDA has organized in-country courses on forage and pasture seed production and quality assurance in seed testing in collaboration with Sudan's Seed Administration and local seed companies. This has helped Sudan to improve forage and pasture seed production and to meet quality assurance standards set by the International Seed Testing Association. Capacity Building and Institutional Development Institutional development in support of agricultural research is critical. ICARDA is cooperating with ARC in a wide spectrum of human resource development efforts, such as training, development of linkages, strengthening of facilities for on-farm and on-station research, and access to publications. To improve the skills of a large number of researchers and technicians from Sudan, ICARDA has so far organized 33 degree, 121 group, 74 individual, 44 regional and 111 in country training courses. As of 2003, ICARDA had provided training opportunities to over 400 researchers from Sudan in key areas of agricultural research, including biotechnology, geographical information system and remote sensing, biometrics, information technology, and information management. Policy makers have also been involved through field visits and briefings on research results. Training of Sudanese scientists at ICARDA has helped improve the efficiency of the country’s research efforts. Training also covers cutting-edge science. For example, a Sudanese researcher, Imad Eujayl (seen in the picture on left), worked at ICARDA for his Ph.D. in biotechnology in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, Finland, and earned the degree in 1998. He succeeded in tracking the genes for frost susceptibility and vascular wilt in lentil, using the technique of gene mapping. "I am from the Sudan, where we use lentil a lot. It is an important source of protein," says Imad. "It is our breakfast—we call it aadis—and our national program has made great strides in lentil production over the last few years. Lentil producers can now use improved lines with resistance to both abiotic and biotic stresses." The trick is to get down to the DNA. There is no less than two meters of DNA in a cell. Incredibly, once treated, it can be seen with the naked eye, "like long, thin strands of cotton," says Imad. "Biotechnology is like any science or engineering product, including the automobile; it is as safe or as dangerous as the people who use it." Regional Cooperation At the regional level, ICARDA cooperates with Sudan through the Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program (NVRSRP), which encompasses Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen. NVRSRP facilitates contact within and between the national agricultural research systems of the participating countries. In September 1995, a Regional Networks Project was formally established to find solutions to the major biotic and abiotic stresses facing the five cool-season cereal and food legume crops in the region. The network seeks to bring the national and international researchers together to solve common problems through sharing their experience and expertise, to optimize the use of limited financial and human resources available for research, and to promote technology transfer to farmers. The networks are still operational thanks to support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

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