A few kilometers outside of Ed Dueim city - one of White Nile State largest cities in Sudan - lies a strip of land that is renowned for its lush corn fields known as  Um-Jadad region.

For years, this remote area has depended heavily on seasonal rainfall to water its small agricultural schemes.   

“In the past, we relied solely on rain for agriculture, which provided us with good harvests every year, but with climate change- having a profound impact on us -  we experienced a large shortage in crops’ production and in profit,” Stated Mohamed Al-Abbas, a 53 year old farmer from Um-Jadad who has being  farming in the region for the last thirty years.

He further added, “The situation has changed however, following the introduction of the new agricultural insurance scheme against climate change impact which has enabled us to expand our land and increase our agricultural output and hence lead better lives.”  

Abbas is one of many UNDP beneficiaries who have benefited from the “Climate Risk Finance for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Rain-fed Farming and pastoral systems project” aiming to create an enabling environment for climate risk management of small-scale farmers and pastoralists in rain-fed areas such as White Nile.  

With substantial support from the least Developed Countries Fund (LCD), the project supports the development of a range of financial mechanisms in 6 climate affected agro-ecological regions across Sudan.

Primarily, the project invests in linking Weather Index Insurance to Microfinance, as one of the innovative financial mechanisms to incentivize investments in climate change adaptation and risk reduction measures.

Al-Abbas further added “This project has provided famers with capacity building workshops on how to plant multiple crops.  Previously, we only used to plant corn per season, now we can diversify our corps.  In addition, the project has provided us with improved seeds resulting in an increase in the harvested crop to 3-4 sacks per acres, and the quality of the crops have also been upgraded.”

Abbas concluded by saying “Our economy has revived. I would like to thank UNDP and partners for improving the quality of our lives though this unprecedented initiative. Thanks to the increased output production, I was able to support my children’s education and I look forward to more opportunities to support us in the agricultural sector.”   

Sudan is one of the few countries in Africa which is implementing Weather Index Insurance to Microfinance to Combat Climate Change Effects on Farmers in Sudan.

The project avails the opportunity to engage both the public and private insurance sectors to serve as important catalysts in supporting the sustainable growth in Sudan.

This UNDP-supported project, “Climate Risk Finance for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Rain-fed Farming and Pastoral Systems in Sudan” introduces effective climate observation infrastructure to enable climate change resilient decision-making in local communities.

At the same time, the project creates a regulatory framework to develop and deliver micro credit and climate risk insurance services to famers.