Khor Abu Habl is one of Sudan’s largest seasonal waterways. In 1946, the British colonial administration established the Khor Abu Habl Agricultural Scheme on the fertile plain between Umm Rawaba and Ar-Rahad in North Kordofan to cultivate short-staple cotton. Over time, the scheme expanded to include sorghum, groundnuts, sunflower, tomatoes and a range of vegetable crops.
In this interview, Ahmed Hassan Al-Amir, Director of the Khor Abu Habl Agricultural Scheme, discusses the scheme’s experience during the war, the destruction inflicted during the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) occupation of the area, the challenges facing the current agricultural season, and the measures being taken to overcome them.
Could you please introduce the Khor Abu Habl Agricultural Scheme and explain its importance to food security in North Kordofan?
The idea of the scheme dates back to 1944 when the first technical studies were conducted to assess the use of Khor Abu Habl’s waters for irrigation as part of broader efforts to develop Sudan’s seasonal water basins.
The Khor Abu Habl Agricultural Scheme is one of the largest irrigated schemes in western Sudan. It is located in North Kordofan State, between the localities of Ar-Rahad and Umm Rawaba, and is supplied by Khor Abu Habl—a seasonal river whose principal tributaries originate in the Nuba Mountains to the east and west of Ad-Dalang, together with runoff flowing northward from Jabal Al-Dair and Jabal Dambir. The watercourse passes through Ar-Rahad, As-Simaih, Umm Rawaba and Wad Ashana before reaching east of Tandalti in White Nile State. It flows from July until early October each year, carrying substantial volumes of water.
The annual discharge at the lower reaches of Khor Abu Habl exceeds 100 million cubic metres, while the watercourse extends for more than 300 kilometres, approximately half of which lies within North Kordofan.
According to studies prepared by Italian experts during the 1970s and 1980s as part of broader assessments of Sudan’s water resources and agricultural potential, the scheme has an irrigable area of between 60,000 and 80,000 feddans. Those studies were intended to evaluate the feasibility of developing a large-scale irrigated agricultural scheme using the waters of Khor Abu Habl. Unfortunately, both that study and an earlier one conducted in 1944 were lost after the RSF looted the scheme’s offices.
The scheme employs flood irrigation in the As-Simaih agricultural sector and supplementary irrigation in the Ar-Rahad sector and their surrounding extensions. At present, around 35,000 feddans are under cultivation, producing both staple food crops and cash crops.
The scheme was established between 1945 and 1946 and has undergone several administrative phases, most notably under the Nuba Mountains Agricultural Corporation between 1968 and 1991. At that time, it formed part of the state’s expansion of agricultural development across Kordofan, seeking to harness the natural resources of the plains and valleys stretching between North and South Kordofan. During that period, the scheme became renowned for producing cotton seed for the Nuba Mountains Agricultural Corporation’s schemes.
Following the dissolution of the corporation, the scheme shifted administratively between the North Kordofan State Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (1991–2001) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s Central Reconstruction Unit (2002–2005).
Today, the scheme falls under the North Kordofan State Ministry of Production and Economic Resources. It operates under a dedicated legal framework and clearly defined production relations. There are currently 24 registered producers’ associations, together with two specialized inspection associations, which have replaced the former farmers’ unions, canal production councils and related local administrative bodies.
The scheme holds considerable importance at both the state and national levels. Its primary objective is to strengthen food security through the cultivation of diverse crops, with particular emphasis on sorghum varieties. It also promotes export-oriented cash crops, including cotton and sunflower, while seeking to develop cotton value chains. In addition, it creates employment opportunities that improve local incomes, raise living standards and contribute to the social and economic stability of surrounding communities.
How extensive was the damage sustained during the war and the period under RSF control?
Total losses are estimated at approximately SDG 57 billion, equivalent to more than US$16 million at the official exchange rate.
During the RSF’s occupation of Ar-Rahad and Umm Rawaba localities, the scheme’s location between the two areas left it exposed to deliberate and systematic destruction.
The scheme’s infrastructure was extensively damaged. Irrigation regulators, sluice gates and water crossings were destroyed, while agricultural tractors, spare parts, cotton seed stocks, supplementary irrigation equipment, agricultural machinery, trailers and other scheme assets were looted. Administrative offices were also stripped of furniture, farmers’ records, staff accommodation, computers and related equipment.
This has had a severe impact on the scheme’s operations over the past two agricultural seasons and continues to affect preparations for the current one. Total losses are estimated at approximately SDG 57 billion—equivalent to more than US$16 million at the official exchange rate.
What measures have you taken to restore the scheme? Have you received support from the government or international organizations?
The North Kordofan State Government, through the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources and the Khor Abu Habl Scheme administration, undertook a number of emergency measures during the 2025–2026 season while preparing for the current 2026–2027 summer season.
A committee was established to inventory the scheme’s remaining assets and document the damage inflicted by the RSF on infrastructure, irrigation networks, agricultural machinery, earth-moving equipment and scheme buildings. The administration also succeeded in repairing one bulldozer and one excavator, which have been used to reinforce breached sections of the watercourse, fill erosion gaps and remove debris left by last season’s floods in preparation for the coming agricultural season.
Although the state government allocated an operational budget for these works, the available resources remain far from sufficient to address either the deliberate destruction of the scheme or the flood damage that destroyed water crossings and irrigation canals.
Urgent intervention is therefore required from both the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to finance the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, repair agricultural machinery and restore the scheme’s operational capacity so that it can fulfil its economic and social role and contribute to national food security.
State government support remains limited and falls well short of the scheme’s actual needs. What is required is comprehensive assistance to rehabilitate irrigation networks, water-control structures, irrigation workers’ housing, administrative offices, guest facilities, agricultural machinery, computer equipment and extension services.
Since 2023, the scheme has received no federal funding from the Ministry of Finance, despite previously being among the agricultural schemes financed by the federal government before the war. The scheme administration has appealed to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation to engage the Ministry of Finance in restoring funding so that the damage inflicted by the RSF can be repaired.
We therefore renew our appeal to the Federal Ministry of Finance, through the North Kordofan State Government and the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources, to resume financing this strategically important scheme.
Nor has the scheme received direct assistance from international organizations to rehabilitate either the destruction caused by the RSF or the flood damage sustained during the previous season.
I would therefore call upon international organizations, particularly those working in agriculture, to support the scheme. I also encourage private-sector agricultural companies to enter into contractual partnerships with farmers to invest in cash crops, especially cotton, while promoting value-added processing that can contribute to Sudan’s wider economy.
What are your cultivation prospects for the current season?
Our cultivation plan targets 35,000 feddans, including 19,000 feddans under regular irrigation within the project itself.
We have prepared both an agricultural plan and a rehabilitation programme covering infrastructure, offices, staff accommodation, irrigation networks and water crossings. With financing from the state government, the scheme administration has completed repairs to breaches in the watercourse near Andaraba, east of Ar-Rahad. The gates of the As-Simaih regulator have also been opened in preparation for receiving seasonal floodwaters, which will supply drinking-water reservoirs serving As-Simaih and surrounding villages.
We have also restructured 24 producers’ associations and coordinated with the State Registrar of Producers’ Organizations to formalize their registration, convene their general assemblies and connect them with financing institutions.
Our cultivation plan targets 35,000 feddans, including 19,000 feddans under regular irrigation within the scheme itself. Planned crops include cotton, sorghum and the scheme’s well-known Allah Kareem tomato variety.
Our principal challenge is securing adequate financing to maintain the irrigation network, manage water distribution under these exceptional conditions and finance cotton production, which is a strategic cash crop requiring substantial investment throughout both production and marketing.
Have you secured sufficient financing for this season?
Access to finance remains one of the greatest challenges facing both the scheme administration and its farmers.
Federal support has ceased, while previous contractual partnerships with private companies that financed cotton production have also come to an end. We hope the scheme will once again receive support from both the state and federal governments, alongside renewed private-sector investment through contract farming arrangements that provide financing as well as guaranteed marketing channels.
We are also coordinating with the Agricultural Bank’s Ar-Rahad branch and have developed a joint financing plan to support farmers participating in the scheme.
At present, however, implementation of this season’s programme depends almost entirely on funding from the North Kordofan State Government.
How would you assess last season?
Last season was exceptional. Floods swept through the scheme at different times, causing extensive damage to water crossings used by farmers to access their fields. Many crossings collapsed, preventing farmers from carrying out agricultural operations on schedule.
The floods reduced cultivated areas, damaged crops and forced many farmers to replant more than once, increasing production costs and reducing the overall cultivated area. Despite these challenges, a number of farmers nevertheless achieved very good yields.
Are farmers attempting to cultivate their land independently, without external financing?
If financing cannot be secured, many farmers will inevitably reduce the area they cultivate.
Agriculture is the sole source of livelihood for the scheme’s farmers. Although they previously relied on bank financing and contractual partnerships with private companies, access to finance has now become one of their greatest obstacles.
Following the registration of producers’ organizations, the scheme administration hopes to channel financing through the Agricultural Bank’s Ar-Rahad branch, which has expressed its willingness to support farmers.
If financing cannot be secured, many farmers will inevitably reduce the area they cultivate, making it impossible to achieve the scheme’s planned agricultural targets.
Farmers across Sudan are struggling with shortages of fuel, seeds and fertilizers. Have you made preparations to meet these urgent needs?
Sudan’s agricultural sector is facing successive crises in the availability of production inputs, including fertilizers, seeds and fuel, and the current war has significantly worsened these shortages.
To address these challenges, we are coordinating with the fuel committee in Ar-Rahad to secure diesel allocations for farmers.
We are also working with the State Ministry of Production and Economic Resources to distribute seed stocks that have already arrived at the agricultural offices in Ar-Rahad and Umm Rawaba, ensuring they are allocated according to the scheme’s comparative production advantages.
What are the main challenges facing preparations for this season?
If financing cannot be secured, many farmers will inevitably reduce the area they cultivate.
The scheme is operating under exceptional circumstances. Federal funding has ceased, while most of the scheme’s agricultural machinery was looted by the RSF. Those machines had been essential for maintaining irrigation infrastructure, repairing the watercourse and carrying out rehabilitation works.
Beyond that, we face numerous additional challenges: erratic rainfall linked to climate change, which affects both water availability and the timing of agricultural operations; breaches and blockages in the river channel and irrigation canals that impede water flows; rising prices for improved seed, fertilizers, pesticides and fuel; delays in land preparation; difficulties accessing finance; shortages of agricultural machinery and the high costs of operating and maintaining existing equipment.
Poor infrastructure—including roads and water crossings—also hampers the movement of inputs and the marketing of agricultural produce, while scheme offices and facilities remain damaged.
Finally, financing for rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure, water crossings, regulators and workers’ camps remains critically inadequate following the suspension of federal funding.
Livestock traditionally complements agriculture. What role does it play within the Khor Abu Habl Scheme?
Integrating livestock into the agricultural production cycle is of great importance for the scheme’s farmers because it generates both economic and social benefits while improving soil fertility.
In the past, farmers built up substantial livestock holdings thanks to scheme-supported bank financing and rural development programmes. However, repeated looting by the RSF resulted in the loss of cattle, sheep and goats, leading to severe shortages of meat and dairy products and further deepening farmers’ hardship.
The scheme administration is currently seeking new financing through the relevant institutions to enable farmers to rebuild their herds, improve their livelihoods and restore their economic resilience.
