(MENAFN – Daily News Egypt) Xinhua – Ahmed Al-Nour Al-Haj, a resident of Omdurman, a populous city north of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, has converted his house into a small farm where he grows vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products.
“I grow important vegetables such as onions, okra, eggplant, mallow and pumpkins, as well as fruits such as lemons and mangoes, and various types of dates,” Al-Haj told Xinhua.
“The war has forced us to resort to these means to obtain food and achieve self-sufficiency,” he added.
Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has left at least 16,650 people dead. An estimated 10.7 million people are currently displaced in Sudan, with about 2.2 million more seeking refuge in neighboring countries, according to the latest UN data.
A recent report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that around 25.6 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are facing acute hunger, including more than 755,000 people on the brink of famine.
The risk of famine is particularly high in 14 regions of the country, including some crisis areas in Khartoum, the OCHA report says.
Al-Haj was not the only one adapting to the challenges of life in Khartoum State. The war has led to severe food shortages and high commodity prices, forcing thousands of families in the state to switch to homesteading or indoor farming to secure their food supply.
“I was looking for a way to help my family and decided to start farming in our house in Omdurman,” said Nadia Ezz El-Din, a university student from Omdurman.
“I grow various crops and vegetables that we need on a daily basis, including tomatoes, peppers and chili peppers,” she said.
According to Ezz El-Din, farming at home has enabled thousands of families to earn a daily living under the harsh conditions of war.
For others, it has become a livelihood as families earn income by selling their domestically grown agricultural products.
Zahra Saleh, who runs a small vegetable shop near her home in the Karari district of Omdurman, sees home-based farming as “a job opportunity and a source of daily income.”
“All the vegetables I sell were grown at home,” Saleh told Xinhua.
Salahuddin Idris, a Sudanese agricultural expert, explained that Khartoum residents could farm at home due to the region’s fertile soil, favorable climate and abundant water reserves.
As home farming becomes increasingly popular in Khartoum State, the local government plans to offer support to productive families.
“We are trying to localize vegetable production in Khartoum state and are working to provide certain types of seeds,” Khartoum State’s acting Minister of Social Development Siddiq Hassan Freini told Xinhua.
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