Farming System and Food Security in Western Sudan: Are the Things Improving?

摘要

This paper seeks to describe the farming system and food security as well as the activities against food insecurity in western Sudan. The secondary data on farming system and food security were collected from ministry of agriculture, ministry of health, WFP and FAO, as well as other relevant sources. Descriptive statistics analysis was used to analyze the data. The finding shows that the cultivated areas under cash crops are increased over the time compared with food crops. This is mainly resulted from some policy transformation and structure changes that seek to expand the area under cash crops. Alternatively, food security is influenced by low productivity and unclear marketing price policies for agricultural products as well as inequality and lack of income. Moreover, two programs were implemented to alleviate the food insecurity problems, namely, school feeding program (SFP) and food for work (FFW). However, the lack of food diversification and poor transportation are the negative factors affecting the stability of SFP. Consequently, adopting the improved technologies through strong and powerful research institutions and extension services will enhance the farming system and food security as well. Additionally, the SFP and FFW should provide diversified foods that are nutritional based rather than caloric based for the vulnerable people.