Sudan and World Food Programme (WFP) have unveiled a programme to prevent the country from running out of food after harvest season.

Sudanese agriculture minister Eisa Osman Sharif on Wednesday said that Khartoum and the UN agency is working on a plan to help small-scale farmers reduce post-harvest losses and alleviate poverty.

The state seeks to prioritise agriculture by developing policies to encourage investments in the sector to contribute to food security, nutrition, eliminating hunger and alleviating poverty, Mr Sharif told journalists.

He spoke during a three-day training and market awareness drive in the Sudanese capital.

The Hermetic Storage Communication Campaign targets two million farmers in Kassala, Gedaref  and White Nile states up from 500,000 in 2019.

Smallholder farmers in Sudan lose about 30 per cent of their harvest due to poor storage systems leading to losses amounting to millions of Sudanese pounds, according to WFP.

“The impact of harvest losses to Sudan’s annual production adds to food insecurity across many states that are reliant on agriculture as the primary source of income,” said Hameed Nuru, WFP's country director.

“The next step is for the Sudanese private sector to see the business opportunities, invest in simple technologies that will help in reducing post-harvest loss, and be willing to distribute these products along their existing supply chain to reach farmers,” Mr Nuru added.