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Rural poverty approaches, policies and strategies in the Sudan

Both the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan have a decentralized governance structure. In strategic documents, both governments have outlined the national vision of agricultural development as the engine of growth and rural poverty reduction. The strategies support small-scale producers in their shift from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture. The specific objectives are to:

• increase agricultural exports and decrease reliance on volatile oil exports
• increase productivity
• improve food security and agricultural incomes
• reduce rural poverty
• correct regional imbalances

Approval of a microfinance strategy has lent momentum to development of the microfinance sector in both north and south. In the north state-owned banks and sanduqs, which are member-based village savings and credit groups, are involved in microfinance initiatives. In Southern Sudan the United States Agency for International Development is working with the Bank of Southern Sudan to develop a local regulatory framework for microfinance.
 

Source: IFAD