Farmers' fair in Bageis, Bau district, Blue Nile State

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Authors

Hilary Warburton

Issue Date

30/01/2015

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en

Keywords

Agriculture , Food

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Food Security Blue Nile IA15000394SUD

Abstract

Blue Nile State is one of the transition states of Sudan – in the north of Sudan but bordering the south – and was the scene of major conflicts between the government and SPLM in the 1990s. Thousands were displaced and many spent years in refugee camps. The transition states are not participating in the referendum to decide the future of south Sudan, but have their own public consultation process, as agreed in the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement). This process has started, but to-date, it is unclear how these consultations will work. Saturday 18th December: Bau District Today we went to the farmers’ fair in Bageis, a village of about 600 households, in Bau District south-west of Damazine. The team have been working with the villagers for a couple of years on strengthening village organisation and training on agricultural extension and technologies. We met farmers who have already seen benefits of increased production and gained a better income from their crop – one man had saved enough to buy a truck. But the knowledge transfer is not all one-way and today was an opportunity for the villagers to share their local knowledge. The whole village turned out, together with people from neighbouring villages, and we started with speeches, music and dancing – everyone joined in. The fair was excellent. People had gathered together their tools, seeds and produce for a celebration of local agriculture and to provide an exchange of knowledge and information with others. What caught my eye was a really impressive collection of different varieties of sorghum, the staple crop. There were white, red and black varieties; large heads, small heads, long and short duration, weed-resistant and bird-resistant, new and old varieties. There was one variety that was not grown for the grains at all, but for its sweet stalk which can be used much in the same way as sugar cane. Each variety had its uses and place in the farming system. Biodiversity is vital for the long term future of agriculture and resilience of farming systems. But in the drive to modernise, the value of local knowledge, not just of different varieties but also how they are cultivated and used, is too often lost.

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