In the past, Jalal al-Din Mohamed Ahmed used to sell sorghum stalks seasonally—after harvest—as fodder to livestock breeders in the village of Mugdar, in Al-Hasahisa locality. The proceeds from fodder sales helped him cover harvesting costs and repay debts incurred during land preparation, fertilizer purchases, or seed acquisition. At times, what remained after settling these expenses was enough to meet his household’s daily needs.
Such fodder represents one of the comparative advantages of crops like sorghum, groundnuts, soybeans, and the various types of cowpeas—Adassiya, Al-Kordofani, and others. Farmers cultivating sorghum in the Al-Jazirah Scheme have often relied more on fodder returns than on grain yields. This year, however, Jalal lost that source of income. He now stands bewildered before piles of fodder that once livestock owners competed fiercely to buy, but which now accumulate along the edges of his household plot (hawasha), stagnant and unsellable.
Jalal is not alone. Anyone traveling through the roads of the Al-Jazirah Scheme today cannot miss the sight of fields filled with neatly stacked heaps of sorghum stalks, evenly arranged across plots. They gleam with a golden hue under the sun, having once been lush green—a pleasing sight that now carries quiet despair. Their orderly stacking is itself a form of commercial display, laid out in anticipation of buyers who may never come.
Despite the many forms of destruction inflicted on the livestock sector, the cause is one and the same: the war of April 15.
Omar al-Kireel, livestock breeder, Saleem village, northern Al-Jazirah
Speaking to Atar, Jalal bitterly attributed the collapse of fodder demand to the sharp decline in livestock numbers. Herds were devastated by looting by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controlled his area in Al-Jazirah from December 2023 to March 2025; by deaths from diseases that were easily treatable before the war; by water shortages following the destruction of the Al-Jazirah irrigation network; and by the forced abandonment of animals when breeders fled their villages and agricultural camps (kanabi). Months of siege nearly wiped-out Al-Jazirah’s herds.
“Despite the many forms of destruction inflicted on the livestock sector, the cause is one and the same: the war of April 15,” said Omar al-Kireel, a livestock breeder from the village of Saleem in northern Al-Jazirah.
Farmers were not blind to this decline. They feel its consequences daily as meat and milk prices soar after long periods of stability. Gradually, they realize they have lost something that was once integral to their lives. Around them, fodder of all kinds lies scattered, sharing their sense of loss—there are no animals left to eat it.
Sorghum ears are cut using an iron machine known locally as al-qatta‘a, or with a sickle, then left to dry for eight to ten days before being gathered at a designated spot called al-taqa. The stalks—known as qasb—are cut with machetes, left to dry, and collected at another spot called ad-dakka. These stalks are sold to livestock breeders for feed during dry periods and at the start of the rainy season, after winter storage. Cutting and gathering are carried out by seasonal laborers from Al-Jazirah and other regions, under contracts based on agreed rates.
Historically, sorghum stalks were a vital part of the agricultural economy, scarcely less important than the grain itself. As livestock numbers grew before the war, demand for fodder surged, turning it into a commodity governed by supply and demand. During peak demand, farmers earned additional income that helped them prepare for winter, buy household furniture, or clothe their children. It was an effective livelihood buffer, especially in years of poor rainfall when pasture growth faltered.
During the sorghum harvest, Al-Jazirah once witnessed intense commercial activity. Large lorries transported fodder from the scheme to Khartoum State and the Al-Butana Plain. According to a member of the Al-Jazirah Chamber of Commerce, livestock enclosures in Khartoum consumed 40 percent of the scheme’s fodder output, while the Al-Butana Plain accounted for 20 percent, with the rest sold locally.
If birds destroyed the sorghum ears, the farmer could compensate by selling the stalks. Now, we lose returns from both.
Lutfi Hashim, farmer, Al-Rayyan irrigation office, Wadi Sha‘ir
Last season, despite harsh wartime conditions, Jalal cultivated eight feddans of sorghum. He sold the residual output of four feddans to a cattle breeder for two million Sudanese pounds. From this, he paid 600,000 pounds to harvest laborers, 200,000 pounds to the combine harvester owner, and 100,000 pounds for transport. He used part of the remainder to repay an old debt to a fertilizer merchant, with what was left covering household needs.
Lutfi Hashim, a farmer at the Al-Rayyan irrigation office in Wadi Sha‘ir, said farmers once relied more on stalks than grain. “If birds destroyed the sorghum ears, the farmer could compensate by selling the stalks. Now, we lose returns from both,” he said. Sorghum prices after harvest fell to between 80,000 and 90,000 pounds per 100-kilogram sack—below production costs—while the stalk market has completely stagnated.
Mutawakkil Jubara al-Sharif, a farmer in Wad Habbouba, recalled how truck owners once roamed farm roads buying stalks and transporting them to Wad Madani and Khartoum. Competition among traders drove prices up. Today, like Jalal, he watches unsold stalks pile up as financial pressure mounts.
On June 25, 2024, Al-Daw Nassir (55) was herding 500 sheep near Kitra al-Jadida in rural Abu Quta when RSF fighters seized his entire flock, leaving him without even milk for his children. Nassir, who once stored crop residues and bought fodder from 10 to 14 feddans annually, now finds himself seeking buyers for his own unsold residues.
The RSF had looted 60 percent of cattle, goats, sheep, and camels in the state and completely destroyed the poultry sector.
Al-Jazirah Congregation report
In December 2024, the Al-Jazirah Congregation reported that the RSF had looted 60 percent of cattle, goats, sheep, and camels in the state and completely destroyed the poultry sector. Livestock losses were estimated at USD 3.5 billion, excluding poultry, with the pre-war livestock population estimated at 11 million head.
Secretary-General Al-Mubirr Mahmoud said the report relied on official figures and direct testimonies. “We were stunned by the magnitude of losses,” he said, adding that even these figures underestimate the damage.
The livestock collapse also affected sorghum grain demand. Before the war, poultry farms in Al-Jazirah and Khartoum consumed about 30,000 tons of sorghum annually, according to poultry farm owner Al-Tahir Jabr Al-Dar. With poultry farms looted—100 percent destroyed, according to the report—this demand vanished.
Sorghum residues known as al-siwa or al-sumayma, once sold to feed factories, now find no buyers. Before the war, a sack sold for 3,000 to 5,000 pounds.
Ibtisam Ahmed Talab, a farmer in Al-Musalamiya, said she will be forced to sell part of her sorghum grain to cover costs—something she deeply resents. “This may consume half my harvest,” she said. “Had anyone bought my stalks, I would never have done this.”
Experts warn that leaving residues unmanaged harms soil health. Moatasim Taha said accumulated stalks can breed harmful fungi, while burning them damages soil fertility.
The same fate has befallen groundnut and cowpea residues (tibn), threatening farmers’ incentives to grow these crops. “We used to store the grain and sell the fodder every summer,” said Al-Hadi Abdel-Gadir Al-Zubair. “Now we don’t know what awaits us.”
The fodder trade once sustained truck owners, loaders, and village agents. “I made one trip a day to Khartoum,” said Fadl Al-Mawla Dakin. “Today, the war has scattered my workers and halted my livelihood.”
Al-Jazirah’s farmers once welcomed livestock herds crossing the Rufaa–Al-Hasahisa Bridge, a sign of prosperity. Today, that movement has vanished.
“My livestock crossed the bridge for the last time in October 2024,” said Al-Naeem Mohamed Ahmed. “This time, they never returned.
