Dimensions and determinants of rural poverty
Changes in the structure of production towards large-scale farming has displaced subsistence farmers and nomads from their land and transformed them into wage labourers, thereby depriving a large number of families of their main source of livelihood.
Deforestation is increasing due to the continuous clearing of land for crops and cutting of wood for energy, resulting from the introduction of large scale farming and the displacement of farmers.
The growing number of female-headed households (about 25 to 35% depending upon region), due to male migration to large-scale mechanized agricultural schemes and the emerging urban industrial sector, suffer labour shortages and greater poverty.
A general lack of access to agricultural resources and services is particularly acute in the case of women. Women in the traditional sector have access only to low-paying, low status, seasonal work.
The negative effects of Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAPs) are affecting the poor sectors of the population, especially women subsistence farmers. According to a 1990 World Bank report, approximately 40% of the population of Northern Sudan are classified as poor, and 50% suffer from malnutrition.
