DOHA, May 14, Yulia Troitskaya.Sudan, due to hostilities between the army and the Rapid Reaction Force militias, has lost 50% of its acreage, this year the wheat deficit will increase by 600 thousand tons, it is planned to cover it through exports, mainly from Russia, said Minister of Trade and Supply Al -Fateh Youssef.
«»Sudan consumes an average of 2.4 million tons of wheat per year. We ourselves grow 600-700 thousand tons, so we have a deficit of around 1.4 — 1.6 million tons, we export these volumes from Russia, Ukraine, countries of Southeast Asia. We import the most — about 800 thousand tons per year — from Russia, since the quality of Russian grain is most suitable for the local market,” said the minister, who visited Qatar. 
He explained that the military operations going on in Sudan since April 2023 have not affected the export of wheat, since the port in eastern Sudan is working properly, but have had a negative impact on the state of agriculture and the ability of the Sudanese to grow wheat.
“Last year, the war did not have such an impact on the sowing season, but now it is having a negative impact. Thus, before the war, in the Sudanese “breadbasket” — the province of El Gezira in the central part of the country — an area of u200bu200bone million faddans (Egyptian measure) was used for growing grain crops area, 1 faddan is equal to 4201 square meters — ed.), from which they received 700-800 thousand tons of wheat per year, but now the sown area in this province has been halved, so only 350 thousand tons of wheat can be obtained. Thus, the need for. Grain exports are increasing, now we need to purchase 2-2.1 million tons of grain abroad, and we have already sent a request to companies that cooperate with Russia in this area,” Youssef said.
According to him, wheat exports from Russia to Sudan mainly go through private companies that buy grain on the exchange, while its delivery was not affected by military actions, both in Sudan itself and in the region, since supplies from Russia go through Chernoye sea and the Bosphorus, and not through the Red Sea, where Yemen's Houthi rebels carry out attacks on ships.
“Military operations are not taking place in the east of Sudan, where its administrative capital Port Sudan is now located; currently they continue only in the central part and in Darfur in the west of the country, and the port is 1.2 thousand — 1.3 thousand away from the battlefields thousand kilometers, so the movement of goods is proceeding as usual,” the minister added.
Since April 15, 2023, fighting has been going on in Sudan between the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) under the command of Mohammed Hamdan Daglo and the regular army. The parties are exchanging contradictory statements regarding successes in combat operations and control over facilities, launching a large-scale information war in the media and social networks. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said fighting in the country could lead to disease outbreaks and a fatal collapse of the health system. According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of internally displaced people in Sudan has exceeded 7 million.