STORY: Summer agricultural season starts in Sudan's Gedaref State
SHOOTING TIME: July 19, 2024
DATELINE: July 20, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:13
LOCATION: Khartoum
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of agricultural fields
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MOHAMED AHMED HASSAN, Governor of Gedaref State
3. various of agricultural fields

STORYLINE:

The summer agricultural season for cultivating corn, millet, sesame and peanuts has started in the Galabat area in Gedaref State, eastern Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MOHAMED AHMED HASSAN, Governor of Gedaref State
"We expect a high production this year. We must thank the organizations, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which contribute to supporting the farmers and providing them with improved seeds to increase production."

Official data show that the agricultural sector in Sudan represents 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 80 percent of the labor force.

Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April 2023, which has so far claimed at least 16,650 lives, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update last month.
   
Since the outbreak of the conflict, over 7.7 million people have been displaced internally within Sudan, and about 2.2 million others have crossed borders into neighboring countries, according to the figures released on June 25 by the UN International Organization for Migration.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Khartoum.
(XHTV)