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SNV/ SOUTHERN SUDAN
Southern Sudan is endowed with a diversity of natural forest
and woodland resources. Among the non timber forest products,
Gum acacia is the most important as it has sustained the
Sudanese economy for a long time. The gum belt in Southern
Sudan runs across from Eastern Equatoria State, Central
Equatoria State, North Barhl El Ghazal State, Warrap State,
Unity State, Jonglei State to Upper Nile State.
Gum acacia is a seasonal product from the widely-growing A.
Senegal and A. seyal. Gum acacia is widely used in the food
and pharmaceutical industries as an emulsifier, stabilizer,
texturizer, film former and binder. Gum acacia (gum acacia)
has the potential to make significant contributions in
alleviating poverty by increasing cash incomes for resource
poor agro-pastoral communities living in remote areas in
Southern Sudan.
In order to achieve this, SNV hired a team of two consultants
in the framework of NGARA to conduct a situational analysis of
the sub-sector assisted by national staff (from GOSS-MAF and
SNV). The study focused on three states namely: Upper Nile
State (UNS), North Barhl El Ghazal State (NBEGS) and Eastern
Equatoria State (EES). The situational analysis was done in a
participatory manner so as to get inputs from all actors in
the value chain. There were some limitations for the study,
key among them being: insecurity, short duration for the wide
area covered, few sampling points and a small number of
respondents.
Despite the limitations, a number of important findings were
obtained and reported. Gum acacia from Southern Sudan is
produced by two main species, A. senegal (L.) Willd var.
senegal and A. seyal Del var. seyal. A short description and
distribution for each species is given in the report. The
study estimates the potential annual production of Gum acacia
from Southern Sudan at 6,541.2 –15,580.3 MT which translates
to an annual export value of US $ 12,428,280 -25, 850,300.
Abdalla Gaafar
NGARA FOCAL POINT
Forest National Corporation
P. O. Box 658 Khartoum
Sudan
Tel: 249 11 471575
Fax: 249 11 472659
Email: abdalla_gaafar@yahoo.com
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