El Geneina , June 11(arfur 24)
Fears are increasing in West Darfur State about the failure of the planting season that begins this June, after the failure of the past two seasons due to civil conflict and insecurity.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, said in a report published last March that the previous planting season had failed in West Darfur state because farmers were prevented from accessing their fields.
Most of the residents of West Darfur work in agriculture and grazing, where frictions usually occur between them that develop into tribal conflict, especially in recent years due to the expansion of cultivated lands at the expense of fallow areas in which livestock graze and the encroachment of farmers on the paths of the stages.
The failure of the previous season complicated the living conditions of many residents of the state, which was exacerbated by the war that broke out between the army and the Rapid Support Forces before West Darfur came under the control of the latter. This deterioration forced some citizens of Kerenik to eat animal fodder (imbar), and the people of Sirba to eat tree leaves. To satisfy hunger.
Observers say that West Darfur State is on the verge of a major famine if farmers are unable to cultivate their lands, but the matter faces many complications, including how those fleeing the war will return to their areas.
The West Darfur state government formed a higher committee to protect the agricultural season, which included civil administrations, representatives of herders, farmers, and the Rapid Support Forces, to work on developing plans to protect the agricultural season and address the problems and frictions that occur over land ownership and geographical borders.
The rapporteur of this committee and the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Abdul Latif Muhammad Saber, told Darfur 24 that the state has developed a plan to cultivate two million and 126 thousand acres of agricultural crops to achieve food security estimated at 207 thousand tons.
He pointed out that achieving this goal requires the assistance of national and regional organizations to make the agricultural season a success, as the organizations have expressed a firm desire to help the people of West Darfur State.
In turn, civil society official Masar Abdel Rahman said that West Darfur went through difficult circumstances that led to the failure of two seasons in a row, as it requires focusing on arranging to protect the agricultural season from an early date and encouraging farmers to farm.
The acting governor of West Darfur State and head of the Supreme Committee for the Protection and Success of the Agricultural Season, Tjani Al-Taher Karshoum, said that the failure of this year’s agricultural season will lead to a major famine in the state in light of the war conditions the country is witnessing.
In a statement to Darfur 24, Tijani Karshoum called on United Nations agencies and organizations working in the field of humanitarian aid to intervene urgently to meet the great need for food, medicine and water to save the lives of citizens.
Farmers in West Darfur state suffer during the harvest stage because it coincides with the return of herders before the crops can be harvested, as some herders deliberately bring their livestock into the farms and destroy the crops. Therefore, if security is not available this year, the population may enter into a crushing famine.