Sudan farms dry as El Nino delays Nile rains

Sudanese farmers are struggling to keep crops alive as delayed rains and unusually low Nile levels hit farmland along the river during a season scientists and UN officials link to El Nino conditions.

Farmers from areas near Khartoum to Gedaref state on the Ethiopian border told AFP that water is not rising from the riverbanks or falling from the sky as expected. Some have gathered for rain prayers, while others say they have left crops to die because high costs and weak markets make harvesting uneconomic.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says the season is unfolding under heightened climate risk, including delayed and below-average rains and frequent dry spells. Climate and hydrology scientist Elfatih Eltahir of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said El Nino is closely associated with low Nile flow and can bring a high probability of drought in southeastern Sudan and northwestern Ethiopia when it begins in late spring.

Data from Germany's University of Tubingen showed the reservoir behind Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance dam on the Blue Nile was six metres lower in July than in the same month last year. Eltahir said Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan need more transparency and cooperation over reservoir management as climate change brings more extreme floods and droughts.

In Gedaref, where major crops such as sorghum and sesame are planted, Agriculture Minister Ismat Qurashi told AFP farmers are being advised to choose drought-resistant crops and delay planting. Farmer Abdelmajid Hussein said the rains needed for crops and livestock were late.

The dry season is adding to pressure from Sudan's war and from higher fuel and fertiliser costs. AFP reported that Sudan imports all its fuel and most of its fertiliser, and that costs for those inputs have multiplied by up to five this year. In Al-Jazira state, farmer Hassan Ahmed said he had never seen the Nile so low in August.