Sudan Expands Production Projects as Poverty Rate Soars
Sudan is launching new state-backed production schemes to stem a drastic rise in poverty as the war devastates incomes, services and food security.
Sudan’s government is increasing investment in small-scale production projects to slow a steep rise in poverty triggered by the war that was initiated by the Rapid Support Forces, now in its third year.
Muttasim Ahmed Saleh, minister of human resources and social welfare, said the programmes were intended to act as a “safety valve” against deepening destitution.
He told state media that his ministry would continue supporting income-generating initiatives “to move citizens from poverty into production,” during the launch of several new schemes financed by the Zakat Chamber and the Poverty Reduction Commission in River Nile State.
Saleh praised the state authorities for hosting and assisting more than five million internally displaced people, according to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA). During a visit to the local prosthetics centre, he pledged continued federal funding, describing the facility as essential for reintegrating vulnerable groups into productive work.
Poverty rises to unprecedented levels
Sudan’s poverty rate has almost quadrupled from 21 per cent before the conflict to 71 per cent, according to official figures cited by the ministry.
An estimated 23 million people now live below the poverty line, a sharp deterioration linked to the collapse of public services, plunging household incomes and repeated disruptions to food supply chains.
International agencies have drawn similar conclusions. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in mid-2024 that more than half of Sudan’s population faced acute humanitarian need as fighting spread across major economic centres. The World Food Programme said earlier this year that markets in several states had “functionally collapsed” due to insecurity, currency depreciation and blocked transport routes.
A strained economy under war conditions
Economic activity in Sudan has been severely constrained since April 2023, when the RSF attacked the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Key revenue-generating sectors — including gold mining, agriculture and cross-border trade — have been hit by smuggling, territorial fragmentation and the breakdown of government oversight. In recent months, industry groups and local chambers of commerce have reported unprecedented declines in formal gold-sector activity, as illicit exports surged and companies halted operations.
Against this backdrop, Khartoum’s authorities are looking to small-scale production projects as an interim stabilisation tool. But economists quoted in regional media have warned that such schemes cannot reverse a nationwide economic collapse without security improvements, restored institutions and functioning markets.
The Ministry of Human Resources said the war had “directly affected” household living standards and access to food and essential services, adding that the new projects were part of an effort to “re-establish livelihoods where possible.”
Reporting by Awad Mustafa