African Development Fund Supports Sudan’s Food Security Efforts
The ADF is supporting food security and rural livelihoods in Sudan through a multi-million-dollar grant programme aimed at addressing the combined impacts of conflict, climate shocks, and economic disruption.
The initiative forms part of a broader agricultural resilience effort targeting key farming regions, including Blue Nile, Sennar, and Kassala. It focuses on improving productivity through access to enhanced seeds, climate-smart farming practices, expanded storage systems, and better market access.
A key objective is to reduce post-harvest losses while strengthening local food systems and rural incomes. The programme is expected to benefit over one million people, particularly in vulnerable agricultural communities affected by ongoing instability.
Sudan’s agricultural sector has been significantly affected by prolonged conflict and environmental stress, limiting production capacity and disrupting supply chains. At the same time, climate variability has increased pressure on already fragile farming systems.
In response, development finance institutions are increasingly prioritising resilience-building approaches supporting not just immediate food access, but the underlying systems needed for sustained agricultural recovery.
What we are watching:
- In South Africa, livestock prices have been rising across beef, pork, poultry, and sheep meat. Disease outbreaks including foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and avian influenza have disrupted production and trade, while earlier drought conditions have reduced herd sizes.
- South Africa is scaling up its response to foot-and-mouth disease, with the government increasing vaccination efforts and working with international partners, including Germany, to strengthen disease control and restore export capacity.
At the same time, developments in South Africa’s livestock sector demonstrate how disease and climate pressures are reshaping agricultural markets across the continent.
Together, these trends underscore a broader reality: food security in Africa is increasingly tied to system resilience, where production, disease control, and market stability are closely interconnected.
