Farmers of Dilling locality complained of lack of fuel and insecurity in the area amid fear that these would cause failure of the agricultural season.

"There is fear among farmers in the area for lack of fuel items and the deteriorating security situation, because of blasts and explosions heard during the night,” a farmer told Radio Tamazuj.

Farmers clarified that the area often lacks fuel supplies, adding that this would affect the agricultural season and might lead to failure of the harvest if the situation continues as such.  They reiterated that the previous agricultural season had coincided with bad security in South Kordofan in June last year.

They called upon concerned authorities to intervene before the agricultural season fails for the second time and leads to a difficult life.

Independently, Radio Tamazuj confirmed that the price of gasoline per jerrycan is 50 to 60 pounds in Babanusa and 80 to 105 pounds in the area of Al Meiram and Al Muglad. Traders attributed the rising fuel price to the lack of incoming goods from Khartoum since the declaration of the state of emergency in the border region.

The complaints from Dilling correlate with predictions by FEWS-NET, a famine early warning network supported by the US Agency for International Development, which stated May 14th that “some farmers on large-scale semi-mechanized farms (located in GoS-controlled areas) are likely to avoid risks associated with farming in South Kordofan this year, including potential damage to crops and looting of equipment by the SPLM-N.”