Hala Abushama, Danielle Resnick, Khalid Siddig, and Oliver K. Kirui
This paper examines how the growing competition between the Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) businesses became a major source of contention between the two groups, and one of several factors that contributed to the outbreak of conflict in April 2023. By tracing the governance structure of each of the warring factions, identifying their complementarities prior to the conflict and highlighting the signs of competition leading to the eruption of the conflict, we draw conclusions about how the ongoing conflict in Sudan is beyond a simple power struggle, and entails mass economic and resource competition between the military and the paramilitary groups. We draw on qualitative methods and key informant interviews with 18 key informants who are knowledgeable on Sudan’s agricultural value chains, food systems, and the dynamics within Sudan’s political sphere to analyze the economic drivers of the conflict and scrutinize how the conflict impacts different agrifood actors. Our findings denote that the violence caused by the conflict is having disparate impacts across different regions and among various agrifood system actors, with the agri-food processors being the most adversely segment affected by the ongoing conflict due to the destruction of factories, looting of warehouses, and near-complete stop of manufacturing processes. As the conflict between the SAF and the RSF continues, alongside the on-going regional and international mediation efforts, we propose policy recommendations across different scenarios, including the importance of reviving the sector despite the continuation of the conflict.
