Thousands of gum arabic producers in Sudan are facing great difficulty in dealing with the important economic crop, as most of its production sites are located within the range of fierce battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces for more than a year.
The ongoing war in Sudan casts a dark shadow over the important crafts that most Sudanese depend on for their livelihood, as hundreds of factories were destroyed, dozens of agricultural projects were disrupted, and large-scale looting of agricultural machinery and crops took place by groups affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces, which made international agencies and organizations warn of the specter of famine threatening the entire country.
Gum Arabic Production Figures
- Gum Arabic is a very important economic product, as Sudan produces 80% of the total world production.
- More than 5 million people work in this sector in 13 different states.
- Its belt in Sudan covers an area of 500 thousand kilometers.
- Gum is one of Sudan’s main agricultural exports. In 2022, its exports were valued at about $183 million, placing it among the country’s top 10 exports overall, according to updated data.
The outbreak of war in Sudan coincided with the end of gum harvesting operations and preparations for export operations. The gum harvesting season begins in November and ends in mid-April of each year.
At this time, producers and small traders sell their produce to meet their financial obligations to the banks from which they borrowed and to prepare for the summer season.
Huge losses for gum arabic producers
As the fighting that began in the capital Khartoum spread to the states of Kordofan and Darfur, gum producers lost heavily, Abu Bakr Adam told Al Jazeera Net.
Adam, from West Kordofan, said that the ongoing challenges have forced the price of the crop to rise after the war reached the region and the entire belt extending east to the eastern states of Sudan.
Adam confirmed that more than 85% of producers stopped working after the outbreak of the war, amid a high failure rate in harvesting the crop as a result of the military operations witnessed in many gum areas, in addition to the risks that producers may be exposed to under these circumstances.
Adam spoke about some producers keeping some of the crop and selling it at a loss -according to him- and he spoke about the looting of tons of gum in several areas by military groups that he did not specify.
For his part, Mustafa Al-Sayed Al-Khalil, a member of the Gum Arabic Council, pointed out the importance of producing gum Arabic in Sudan, pointing out the country’s forest wealth represented by the “Hashab” tree, which produces gum, and is almost exclusively found in Sudan.
According to Al-Khalil, the country has been producing no less than 80% of the world’s production for decades, but this resource, he told Al Jazeera Net, has been decreasing at a frightening and rapid pace since the period before the outbreak of the war.
He said that the gum belt has declined southward and sometimes to the point of disappearing in 13 states, for reasons related to climate change, but it remains without the role of humans represented by agriculture, overgrazing, encroachments by security and protected authorities, domestic energy consumption, construction and other means of livelihood.
Al-Khalil also spoke about the decline in employment and the restriction of work to women, children and the elderly, due to the migration of young people to gold mining areas and cities where work no longer meets their aspirations. He says, “If we were witnessing a terrible decrease in resources and employment before the war, what about after it?”
Security threats and higher cost of gum arabic
A member of the Gum Council estimates production before the war at around 50,000 tons of acacia gum, and confirms that the war did not stop exports despite their high cost, as the driver’s incentive rose to hundreds of thousands of pounds, as did transportation, while official fees from zakat and others increased to astronomical figures, in addition to other fees imposed by the Rapid Support Forces at a rate of one million pounds per shipment ($500).
Al-Khalil also points to the increase in wages for loading and unloading workers, noting that a ton of acacia gum is currently sold for about $3,250, while before the war it was sold for about $2,200, according to Mustafa Al-Khalil.
According to Al Jazeera Net’s follow-ups, the Rapid Support Forces are deployed on 3 of the 4 main roads leading to and from the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan State, which is one of the most important gum production areas in the country.
Some gum producers who decide to export are forced to pay millions of pounds upon arrival at checkpoints set up by Rapid Support Forces, and some soldiers offer to escort and secure shipments for a large sum of money.
The largest part of the gum arabic currently passes through the city of El Obeid for export through land ports on the borders with Chad and Egypt. Part of the export also reaches Port Sudan on the Red Sea in the east, after a very long and expensive journey, according to one of the exporters.
Gum Arabic Producers Under Threat
Ahmed Al-Anan, head of the Gum Arabic Exporters Division, points out the great suffering faced by gum Arabic producers, especially when transporting it from the forests to the rural markets and from there to the large auctions or the stock exchange in Al-Obeid and Al-Nahud in North Kordofan State, and then from those markets to the export port, where producers avoid areas where clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces are active. For this reason, very long and distant distances are traveled, consuming more time than before.
He told Al Jazeera Net, “Goods are now being transported from Al-Abyad and Al-Nahud via Ad-Daba in northern Sudan to Port Sudan, avoiding areas where the Rapid Support Forces are present, especially on forest roads.”
Al-Anan points out the difficulty of determining the quantities exported under the current circumstances, but the total amount exported annually, in the best of circumstances, ranges between 120 and 150 thousand tons, noting that estimates indicate that the current export of gum does not exceed 60%, i.e. between 72 and 90 thousand tons.
He confirms that most of the gum arabic forests are located in areas of clashes, and that producers suffer from harsh conditions in addition to the displacement of some of them, pointing to the security threats on the roads, and the distance of markets from production sites.
Annan denied the existence of an exception for gum arabic or the coordination of the Rapid Support Forces or the army to enable producers to transport it for export, and said that what is happening now in terms of attempts is the individual effort of producers, small traders and export companies.
Effects of war on gum arabic
Economic expert Mohamed Al-Nayer confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that the production of gum arabic was mainly affected by the war, noting that Sudan meets between 75-80% of global demand.
He said that recently the product was smuggled to neighboring countries, which greatly affected Sudan’s production situation, and it no longer meets 80% of global demand as it did in the past.
Al-Nayir confirms that the impact on gum was severe with the extension of the conflict to production sites, especially since its belt extends from the far west of Sudan to the far east, and no less than 5 million people live on this belt linked to the sector.
Sudan’s exports during the past years did not exceed 50-60 thousand tons, according to Al-Nayer, while revenues ranged between 120-130 million dollars.
The economic expert believes that what threatens gum arabic is smuggling, and he says, “In light of the lack of security stability, the rate of smuggling is increasing significantly.”
He added that the Sudanese authorities had to take a bold decision to ban the export of raw gum and only allow its export in the processed form, especially since Sudan now has manufacturers of gum arabic, which is used in many products such as medicines, soft drinks, sweets, and others.
