Sudan’s Poverty Rates Potentially Exceeds 70%, Although It’s Considered As The World’s Food Basket
Despite having a wealth of natural resources like oil and gas, Sudan also has vast agricultural regions, which made Sudan call "the world's food basket." Cotton, sesame, peanuts, and Arabic gum are among the most significant agricultural products, and Sudan is the first country in the world producing Arabic gum (80% of global production), the rate of poverty is increasing there current poverty rate in sudan is 79.30%, with 80% of the population now living in poverty as a result of the local currency's devaluation against the US dollar.
According to official statistics, Sudan's unemployment rate grew to 19%, with young people experiencing an unemployment rate of roughly 34%, graduates experiencing a rate of 48%, and women experiencing a rate of 45%.
Poverty puts a lot of strain on the poorest regions of the nation and the fastest-growing population, including refugees and returns, which has previously been shown to put pressure on delicate ecosystems. Resources are impacted by soil erosion, loss of fertility, and damage to water gathers at a time when agricultural output is already declining. Farmers' sources of income and food prices are affected by traces of climate change, such as water scarcity, which all have an impact on family food security. There is more than 30% of Sudan’s population is currently experiencing a food crisis due to the concomitant effects of climate shocks, political unrest, and rising global food costs.
In order to address the harsh living conditions that worsened after the government implemented economic reforms that resulted in an increase in the cost of living with the increase in the prices of all necessary goods and services, the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk launched the "Thamarat" program in 2020 with the assistance of many organisations. This program provided direct cash assistance for approximately 32 million Sudanese out of 40 million, the total number of population. However, on October 25, Lieutenant General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army, carried out his military coup, overthrowing the administration of Abdullah Hamdouk, which caused the program to be suspended. Similar programs could be very helpful to mitigate the problem.
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