The Age-Old Question

By: Mohammed Ahmed Al-Feelabi
(Environmental Specialist)

Her laughter preceded her steps as she entered the spacious courtyard, carrying a palm-frond basket filled with fresh vegetables. She said proudly that she had embraced the idea of ​​home gardening, not as an urban luxury, but as a necessity imposed by displacement to the countryside. The war that drove millions of Sudanese from the cities had brought many back to their rural roots.

This is not an isolated case, but rather a microcosm of the transformation Sudan is undergoing after three years of harsh war lessons. With the collapse of cities, people returned to the countryside in search of safety and food, rediscovering that the land, when nurtured with care, provides sustenance and security.

Anthropological studies confirm that women were the first to discover agriculture, gathering seeds around their homes and observing that they germinated with rain. Women in Kordofan and Darfur practiced gardening around their homes (known as “jabarik”). In many rural areas, women have traditionally practiced agriculture, and today urban women are returning to this role, but within the context of a war that is restoring agriculture to its position as the first line of defense for food security.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) affirms that “family farming is capable of ensuring food security, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, especially in rural areas that have become more densely populated after displacement.” Statistics indicate that more than 62% of Sudanese people depend on agriculture and livestock herding for their livelihoods. With the widespread displacement from cities, the importance of this sector has multiplied. Rural areas, neglected for decades, have now become a refuge and a resource, and civil organizations attempting to fill the void left by the state have begun encouraging families to engage in home-based farming, not to combat hunger, but to produce safe, pollution-free food, as urban supply chains have collapsed.

Agricultural expert Abdel Latif Ejimi says, “The combination of agriculture and livestock herding is fundamental to human survival.” What those in power failed to grasp led to the collapse of the central government with the outbreak of war. When the countryside and its people were neglected, fragility permeated everything. The question arose: how could the economy of a country with such potential collapse? Why was agriculture neglected while people were exploited in mining, which destroyed pastures, forests, and waterways?

The rural exodus revealed a truth ignored by policies for decades: Sudan’s future begins on the surface, not beneath the earth, and food security is not achieved through gold and oil, but through the seeds sown and the hands that know how to revitalize the soil. The war may have forcibly driven Sudanese people back to the countryside, but it revived the age-old question: “Do we have the courage to start anew?”