Economic Impact of Gad Allah Agricultural Project River Nile State-Sudan On Farmers Income

Abstract

Gad Allah Agriculture Project was established in 1993 in Gad Allah village, Berber Locality, River Nile state to improve the economics situations of the farmers in the area. Unfortunately, very poor studies were done to evaluate the project. This necessitates carrying out this study which aimed to: study the socio-economics characteristics of the farmers and their attitude towards the project, identify factors affecting the project and examine the contribution of the project on food availability and farmers' incomes. Simple random sampling techniques were used to collect data from 45 farmers in the study area, representing 13% of the population currently benefiting from the project and 7% from the total farmers in the area. Statistical analysis technique and partial budget analyses were used to reach to the study objectives. The results revealed that: most of the farmers have low educational levels and depends solely on agriculture for their living. The average land size per farmers is 2.3 feddans, but the actual planted area is 1.9 feddans. Wheat is the main crop grown by the farmers, even though, other crops like vegetable are also grown but in small areas. There were many problems created by the project; distribution of lands (created social problems) and spread of Mosquitoes and malaria. The former one substantially increases the irrigation costs, as additional cost were incurred in changing the channel's route. The project provides the farmers with a considerable amount of crops and animal products. Likewise, it significantly improves farmers' income in the study area. Accordingly, using electrical pumps and introducing fruit crops in the project will greatly improve farmers' income