Gum Arabic One of Sudans major exports now in decline
11 July 2024
Once one of Sudan’s main exports, where merchants received millions of dollars in export revenue through American and French markets, is now severely reduced. Gum Arabic revenue prior to the war was roughly $80 million; after nearly 15 months of conflict, this figure has been reduced to around $20 million, according to the government-controlled trade body, the Sudan Gum Arabic Council.
Sudanese gum gains its importance from its use by companies around the world in the pharmaceutical and soft drink industries in the United States and France. The sticky commodity is so valuable that the U.S. excluded gum arabic from the sanctions it formerly imposed on the former Omar al Bashir regime.
But farmers and traders alike are now unable to harvest and trade the lucrative commodity due to the ongoing war between the national army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The area of Gum Arabic fields in Sudan is about half a million acres, spreading over more than six Sudanese states, most of which are in areas where armed fighting has been raging since April last year, according to the Council. The RSF, in particular, control large areas of the Kordofan region, an area known for its production of Gum Arabic.
During the harvest season from October to May, thousands of gum arabic farmers were unable to go to the fields due to the insecurity, says trader Mohamed Ahmed, a Gum Arabic trader in North Kordofan State. “Farmers in the production areas in Kordofan region, some areas of Darfur, and even the White Nile do not go to the fields because of the security situation,” he said.
A former gum arabic market in Sudan (Re-Soil Foundation)No way to trade
While farmers are unable to access their fields to harvest the gum arabic, traders are unable to reach their markets. Gum arabic is extracted from the acacia tree, which is a tree that tolerates a dry and temperate climate during the fall season. Since the fighting broke out in Sudan, the main market in the city of El Obeid , the capital of North Kordofan State, has been closed due to the security situation.
Khalid*, a trader in the crop market in El Obeid, used to wait with deep anticipation for the October harvests of gum arabic, which continued until early January. But last year, few farmers came. “All these things are now almost at halt due to the war,” he said.
“The shipments that cross to the port in the east of the country from production areas pass through a series of military checkpoints for the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, all of which impose astronomical fees,” Mohamed Ahmed added. In North Kordofan, the RSF charge 500,000 Sudanese Pounds (roughly $300), a fee many traders say they cannot afford. Gum Arabic traders under a trade collective, the Gum Arabic Council, filed a complaint with authorities in Port Sudan to reduce the export fees to no avail.
Mansour Fateh Al-Rahman, who was active in the Gum Arabic trade between the cities of North Kordofan and the Darfur region, told
Ayin
that a new lucrative “protection” business emerged during the war for armed groups to provide merchants safe passage, making the trade prohibitively expensive. In addition, any exports must go through a myriad of military checkpoints where fees are invariably demanded, whether on the army side or RSF, he added.
A gum arabic farmer collecting his harvest from the acacia trees (UNOPS)Companies destroyed by war
In one of the old buildings in the centre of the Sudanese capital, Amer Behairy was sitting with a calculator in front of the gum arabic suppliers who provide his company with produce coming from the fields of Kordofan, Darfur, the White Nile, Gedarif, Sennar, and the Blue Nile.
Beheiry’s father practiced this trade forty years ago. Today, after 14 months of war, the office has turned into burnt rubble due to the violent battles that broke out in the area during the first weeks of war.
Beheiry cannot wait to return to the gum arabic trade. The man is working to export this vital product to the European Union, especially France, in addition to the American companies that are waiting for the imports of Sudanese gum.
“Most of the produce is smuggled through Chad because the production areas are concentrated in Kordofan and Darfur regions, and only scarce shipments arrive at Port Sudan and are exported under the supervision of the Sudanese authorities, which impose taxes on them,” he said.
“The soldiers and officers of the RSF receive large sums of money from shipments of gum arabic, and the money they request depends on the quantity of the shipment. If it exceeds ten tons, they ask for one million Sudanese Pounds, equivalent to around 650 dollars,” he added.
He told
Ayin
that merchants deliberately transport small shipments, to avoid the checkpoints set up by the RSF in North Kordofan along the main roads. “In such situations, merchants prefer not to move as much as they did before; as the security situation also threatens their lives.”
A Sudanese trader in Khartoum (DW)Huge Losses
Sudan loses huge amounts of revenue annually due to smuggling gum arabic, according to economic expert Mohamed Ibrahim. “The lost money is sufficient to cover the defecit in the trade balance, which amounted to three billion dollars before the war.”
Huge amounts of gum arabic is smuggled through Chad, he added. Smuggling has multiple routes and may extend to Egypt during the war due to the security situation, the spread of corruption networks linked to the two warring parties, and the bribes that are paid on the highways for trucks to pass, he added.
Western countries,
desperate for the commodity, have created alternative gum arabic production areas in Chad and several west African countries, but this does not fill the gap from the lack of production in Sudan, Ibrahim said. “Sudan controls 70% of global production, and some reports say that Sudan alone produces 90% of gum arabic as the fields are spread over an area of 600 thousand acres,” he added.
Gum arabic farmers (AFP)A scarce glimmer of hope
Until 2022, Sudan exported around 65 million tons of gum arabic annually, according to an official at the Council. Last April, the price decreased from $610 to $240 per ton since merchants could not afford shipping as all commercial offices in the capital were completely looted and destroyed due to the fighting.
The government official, who preferred to remain anonymous, says that there is a glimpse of hope in the horizon if the Council takes control of the Gum Arabic production areas in the safe regions and then gives [ the producers] confidence through bank financing. “There is tangible work [ to be done], and if successful, this sector may soon regain its vitality,” he told
Ayin
.
He added: “It is normal for the Gum Arabic markets to collapse in Sudan, as the production was sent to the Sudanese capital, and from there via trucks to the ports. After the war, this cannot happen as smoothly as it used to; the war destroyed everything.”
3ayin.com