The Resilience Building Project inaugurates the corn crop in Kassala State
The overall goal of the project is to promote a paradigm shift in dryland pastoral by increasing resilience of food production systems
Report by:Haffiy Elyas
The “Building resilience in the face of climate change within traditional rain fed agricultural and pastoral systems in Sudan” project supports climate change adaptation efforts among subsistence agro-pastoralist and nomadic pastoralist communities in dryland zones across nine states (West Darfur, Central Darfur, East Darfur, Western Kordofan, South Kordofan, Kassala, Red Sea , Northern and Khartoum state). The project will build climate resilience, health, well-being and food and water security for approximately 3.8 million people – almost 1.2 million direct beneficiaries and 2.5 million indirect beneficiaries – accounting for more than 32% of the total population across the nine targeted states, and about 9.2% of the total population of the country.
The project to build resilience to face climate changes in the agricultural and pastoral sector inaugurated the harvest of the maize crop in Kahlout area in Kassala State.
The celebration was honored by the Acting state governor, Khojaly Hammad Abdullah, the leaders of the executive work, the state security committee, project partners, representatives of international and voluntary organizations, civil administrations, farmers and the media.
The project, which is being implemented by the Higher Council for the Environment and Natural Resources with funding by the Green Climate Fund through the United Nations Development Program UNDP, is able to achieve high productivity of the maize crop .
The Wali (Governor) of Kassala praised the project and described it as pioneering in its interest in farmers, organizing them and building their capacities to see their role and create real partnerships and its extended efforts to the urgent issues of the citizen by providing drinking water and providing food and health.
The Wali praised the great leap achieved by the state in the agricultural field, describing the Calhout project as a model for this production.
He considered the project area in the Mini Sudan with the participation of all the tribes of Sudan, especially the Hausa tribe, which is known for production and hard work, noting the necessity of investing this social fabric as a source of strength and production without racial discrimination.
The Director-General and the acting Minister of the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources in the state, Dr. Khader Ramadan, confirmed that the project is one of the most important projects in Kassala State in terms of securing food for the residents of the state and beyond.
He added that the productivity of the project is unprecedented in the rain and flood sector, promising to expand the cultivated area next year
And providing mechanisms that help in the development of the project. He also promised the farmers to form producers’ associations and to manage the irrigation water in the project.
It Is worth noting that the overall goal of the project is to promote a paradigm shift in dryland pastoral and farming systems through i) an integrated approach by increasing resilience of food production systems; ii) improving availability/access to climate resilient water sources; and iii) strengthening capacities of institutions/communities on climate resilience.
The project capitalizes on synergies in climate risk management practices across agriculture, water, and rangelands to enhance water and food security under changing climate conditions.
Key results are enhanced resilience to climate risks among subsistence farmer and nomadic pastoralist communities and promoting an enabling environment for long-term (post-project) adaptation activities in Sudan.
Moreover, the enhanced capacity of the state-level administration in areas of environmental governance, management of shared natural resources, inter- and intra-state relations and how to establish a network of early warning systems will help prevent conflicts and out-mitigation in the targeted areas.