Officials at the agriculture department in the Kas locality of South Darfur State have said that the ongoing war between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the accompanying insecurity has failed the agricultural season in the area.
The head of the farmers of Kas, Mohammed Ahmed Adam Babiker, told Radio Tamazuj that this year’s cultivation season is considered a failure as the success rate does not amount to even 30 percent.
He attributed the failure of the agricultural season to several obstacles including “the high prices of agricultural inputs (fertilizers) for growing vegetables and fruits, expensive labor costs, the lack of rain, destruction of farms by livestock and insecurity occasioned by the war.
Adam noted that the lack of security in Kas also led to a reduction in markets for selling crops, which exposed farmers to great losses.
For his part, a farmer, Mohammed Abakar, revealed that the biggest problem facing them is pastoralists driving their livestock to farmlands. He said that he planted 8 acres of crops earlier in the year but animals destroyed 5 of them at the harvest stage despite the intervention of the security committees that tried to prevent the herders from bringing their livestock to gardens.
Another farmer, Yaqoub Adam from the Taura region, described the agricultural season as a failure due to the rise in seed and fuel prices.
The Kas region is famous for its abundant production of onions, millet, and okra among other crops and most cities in Darfur depend on the area for produce.