Fuel prices are surging sharply in Sudan’s Al-Jazirah State as access grows increasingly scarce. The spike comes amid the country’s broader crisis, coinciding with the winter harvest season, which demands substantial quantities of fuel, particularly diesel, to operate machinery and harvesters, as well as to transport crops from fields to homes and markets.
Al-Jazirah Scheme administration, Sudan’s largest agricultural scheme, had announced the start of the winter harvest in the first week of April. It later reported that 80 per cent of crops had been harvested across 203,000 feddans cultivated this season. This progress comes despite steep fuel price hikes, especially for diesel, and the suspension of harvesting operations in several parts of the scheme.
Petrol Available, Diesel in Short Supply
Everything has increased and doubled in price because of fuel, and if we sell at the official rate, we won’t be able to bring in new supplies.
Fuel station owner, Al-Jazirah
A field tour by Atar revealed acute shortages of fuel supplies at stations across the state, alongside rising prices. A gallon of diesel is selling for between 33,000 Sudanese pounds ($7.97) and 35,000 pounds ($8.45) at official stations, while petrol ranges from 23,000 pounds ($5.56) to 26,000 pounds ($6.28). Atar team also observed price disparities among stations in different cities, despite a unified pricing scheme issued by the state’s Finance Ministry at the start of April.
In Wad Madani locality, petrol is sold at stations for 26,000 pounds ($6.28) per gallon, though it remains scarce, while diesel stands at 28,000 pounds ($6.76) amid severe shortages.
In the neighbouring Al-Hasahisa locality, an Atar tour of fuel stations found relatively better availability of petrol, but diesel remains in short supply. Its official pump price is 24,000 pounds ($5.80), though it is largely unavailable, while in the parallel market it sells for between 35,000 ($8.45) and 40,000 ($9.66) pounds.
In Al-Managil locality, residents complain of a deepening fuel crisis, with diesel nearly unavailable. In some areas, a gallon has climbed to 50,000 pounds ($12.08) on the parallel market. Petrol, by contrast, is relatively accessible, selling at stations for 26,000 pounds ($6.28) per gallon, while reaching up to 32,000 pounds ($7.73) on the black market.
In Al-Kamilin locality, north of Al-Jazirah, diesel is also in critically short supply, while petrol remains moderately available. A gallon of diesel fetches between 40,000 ($9.66) and 45,000 ($10.87) pounds on the parallel market, as it is largely absent from most fuel stations. Petrol is priced between 24,000 ($5.80) and 26,000 ($6.28) pounds per gallon at pumps, while in the parallel market it ranges from 28,000 ($6.76) to 30,000 ($7.25) pounds, nearing 35,000 ($8.45) pounds per gallon in areas closest to Khartoum state.
A fuel station owner told Atar that he managed to secure supplies only after waiting with his tanker for more than two weeks in Port Sudan, a task that previously would have taken no more than 48 hours at worst. He attributed the price hikes to soaring transportation costs, saying: “Everything has increased and doubled in price because of fuel. We are now struggling to obtain it, and if we sell at the government-set rate, we will not be able to bring in new supplies, as prices are constantly shifting.”
In the Greater Al-Managil area, which includes Al-Managil and 24 Al-Qurashi localities, both key hubs for winter crop cultivation, the price of a gallon of diesel has hit 50,000 pounds ($12.08), driven by farmers’ demand during the harvest. In Al-Managil locality, where harvesting is still underway across vast stretches of farmland, fuel, especially diesel, remains in critically short supply.
Harvest Crisis
Farmers say the fuel shortage is taking a heavy toll on their harvests.
Badawi Ahmed Hassan, a farmer in the ‘Fahl’ office of the Scheme’s central division, told Atar he managed to harvest four feddans of chickpea crops in the final week of March at a cost of 70,000 pounds ($16.91) per feddan. He is now preparing to harvest another four feddans, but says a combine harvester owner informed him that the price had risen from 70,000 (($16.91) to 120,000 ($28.99) pounds per feddan due to soaring fuel costs.
“The owner told me there are no guarantees the price will hold at its current level, and that if I call again or delay, I may find it has doubled. My crop has dried to the point where waiting is a risk, but I cannot afford this amount right now,” he said.
We are forced into manual harvesting, mechanized work has become too expensive.
Al-Aghbash Issa, farmer, Al-Jazirah
Taha Al-Ubeid, a combine harvester owner, told Atar he is forced to buy a gallon of diesel on the parallel market for 40,000 pounds ($9.66), even though its official price at fuel stations in Al-Mehairiba, north of Al-Jazirah, stands at 32,000 pounds ($7.73). Long queues at stations, however, push him to rely on the black market, inevitably driving up harvesting costs per feddan.
Al-Aghbash Issa, a farmer in the ‘Toris’ office of Wadi Shaeer division, says harvesting is proceeding slowly due to fuel shortages. He adds that farmers have resorted to manual harvesting instead of mechanized methods, despite the significant crop losses it entails.
“We are forced into this,” he said. “Mechanized harvesting has become prohibitively expensive, compounding our losses amid falling crop prices.”
Speaking to Atar, agricultural engineer Moatasim Fadl Al-Sayed said harvesting operations rely entirely on machinery, including combine harvesters, threshers and tractors, all powered by diesel. It is an interconnected process whose backbone is fuel; its absence causes the entire system to unravel.
He warned that fuel shortages bring these machines to a halt, delaying the harvest beyond its optimal window and leading to crop losses known as “shattering,” where grains fall due to severe dryness.
“Winter crops such as wheat have a specific harvesting window. If the ears are left in the field too long after drying because of delays in machinery, the grains begin to fall, sharply reducing overall productivity,” Fadl Al-Sayed said.
He cautioned that leaving dry crops in the fields for extended periods exposes them to bird and rodent attacks, and heightens the risk of fires, whether natural or deliberate.
On the other side of the crisis, Fadl Al-Sayed notes that even when farmers manage to complete the harvest, another challenge emerges: transporting bagged crops from fields to storage facilities or mills.
A year of farmers’ labour is going to waste, this season should have been planned for.
Sidiq Nasser, farmer, Al-Jazirah
“The lack of fuel for trucks leads to crops piling up in the open, exposing them to damage from weather or theft,” he said, adding that pressed for time and fearing losses, farmers are forced to turn to the parallel market to purchase diesel at inflated prices. This, he argues, drives production costs to levels that effectively wipe out any expected profit.
According to Sidiq Nasser, a farmer in ‘Al-Huda’ office, what is unfolding is not fuel profiteering but “depletion.”
Speaking to Atar, Nasser said a year’s worth of farmers’ labour is ultimately going to waste. He noted that diesel reserves should have been secured in advance for the harvest season, something that was routinely done in previous years, given that the harvest predictably requires additional fuel.
“The harvest season is cyclical; it is no surprise. It should have been properly planned for, instead of squandering farmers’ efforts in this way,” he said, proposing that the government declares a state of emergency, procure sufficient fuel supplies, distribute them equitably, and impose full oversight across the scheme’s divisions to save crops and prevent their spoilage.
An Impossible Equation
We are selling wheat cheaply while everything else we need keeps getting more expensive.
Salah Al-Tayeb Abu Haraz, farmer, Al-Jazirah
At the same time, markets across the state are witnessing a steep surge in commodity prices. The cost of a 50-kilogramme sack of sugar has risen to 180,000 pounds ($43.48), up from 130,000 pounds ($31.40).
Salah Al-Tayeb Abu Haraz, a farmer in the northern division, told Atar that farmers in Al-Jazirah are grappling with a punishing imbalance: falling prices for the crops they produce and sharp increases in the cost of other goods not locally produced in the state or Sudan.
“We are now selling a 100-kilogramme sack of wheat for 110,000 pounds ($26.57), while a 25-kilogramme sack of imported flour from a neighbouring country sells for 65,000 pounds ($15.70),” he said.
Crop prices in the state’s markets have fallen sharply in late March and early April, particularly for legumes and staple grains.
According to a survey by Atar in Al-Mehairiba market in central Al-Jazirah, the price of a sack of chickpeas dropped to 215,000 pounds ($51.93) from 250,000 pounds ($60.39) before the latest crisis. The price of a sack of fava beans fell to 315,000 pounds ($76.09), down from 520,000 pounds ($125.60), while wheat declined to 110,000 pounds ($26.57 from 140,000 pounds ($33.82). This downturn comes amid a surge in supply and weak demand from traders, driven by the high cost of transporting goods to Khartoum and Port Sudan.
The survey also found a significant rise in sorghum prices in the state’s markets. Traders such as Al-Tahir Abdelbasit, a merchant in Wad Madani market, attributed the increase to reduced inflows from Gedaref and Sennar due to soaring transport costs.
In Greater Wad Madani locality, residents say the steep rise in commodity prices, driven by the fuel crisis, has deepened the strain on their daily livelihoods, accompanied by higher fares for both intra-city and intercity transport.
Juma Suleiman, a resident of Dardaq neighbourhood in Wad Madani, told Atar that market prices have surged sharply.
A 50-kilogramme sack of sugar, for instance, has climbed from 150,000 pounds ($36.23) in March to 175,000 pounds ($42.27), while an 18-pound jerrycan of cooking oil rose from 80,000 pounds ($19.32) to 100,000 pounds ($24.15). The price of a pound of tea increased from 5,000 pounds ($1.21) to 7,000 pounds ($1.69), coffee from 8,000 pounds ($1.93) to 12,000 pounds ($2.90), powdered milk from 10,000 pounds ($2.42) to 15,000 pounds ($3.62) per kilogramme, and a measure of fava beans from 15,000 pounds ($3.62) to between 20,000 pounds ($4.83) and 25,000 pounds ($6.04).
The price of a sack of millet has also jumped due to transport costs, rising from 140,000 pounds ($33.82) to 220,000 pounds ($53.14).
Peripheral localities are seeing particularly sharp increases in flour prices.
In Al-Managil and 24 Al-Qurashi, a sack now sells for between 70,000 pounds ($16.91) and 75,000 pounds ($18.12), up from around 50,000 pounds ($12.08) at the end of March.
This has led to a steep rise in bread prices, with three to four loaves now selling for 1,000 pounds ($0.24), compared with five to six loaves for the same amount just a month earlier.
Bakery owners complain of soaring input costs: the price of gas has risen from 6,000 pounds ($1.45) per kilogramme to more than 10,000 pounds ($2.42). Firewood, which bakeries increasingly rely on as an alternative, has also surged, with the cost per cubic metre climbing from 30,000 pounds ($7.25) to 50,000 pounds ($12.08) due to heightened demand amid gas shortages and rising prices.
