This study quantifies the impacts of change in wheat’s import tariffs on gross domestic product (GDP) and its components, wheat imports, sorghum exports, and domestic production of wheat and sorghum in the Sudan. The study objective is to provide a deep insight of the issue in concern to stakeholders affiliated with food security. As a method of analysis, the study uses a standard computable general equilibrium model, designed for developing countries by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Sudan’s Social Accounting Matrix for the year 2004, disaggregated for agriculture, has been used as core database. Different scenarios have been postulated and simulated. Changes in import tariff of wheat had broad inter-linkages among all sectors of the economy. Reduction of wheat tariff has increased wheat imports; associated with a decrease of imports of other agricultural, industrial and services sectors. Increasing wheat imports could lower the domestic price and, hence, reduce the resources directed to its production. The overall effect is an improvement of GDP, balance of trade, and investment, and decreased private consumption. Increasing import tariff on wheat would reduce its imports and encourage its production for self-sufficiency, with less efficiency and negative impact on GDP. Domestic production of wheat is highly variable over time, and falls short of satisfying the demand, whereas wheat consumption is increasing over time. Encouraging innovation of convenient and fast food industry using domestic traditional grains is recommended to curb wheat consumption. Furthermore, wheat imports should be conditioned on availability of hard currency, domestic production capacity, and food gap, while maintaining stable exchange rate that strikes a balance between encouraging sorghum exports and wheat imports. This should be associated with increased investment in stabilizing and increasing wheat production, and remedy the predicaments facing agriculture

Background and Objective: Qualitative and quantitative changes in diets represent the main characteristics of the dietary changes in Gulf countries. The objective of this paper is to describe and examine the patterns, growth rates and trends of food supply and consumption in Gulf Cooperation Council countries during the period of 1961-2013. Materials and Methods: The study depended mainly on secondary data derived from annual food balance sheets produced by the FAO. Trend analysis, annual growth rates, descriptive statistics and analysis of variance and means comparison were used to analyze the collected data. Results: A change in the consumption patterns, trends and annual growth rates in the GCC countries was noticed. These changes were manifested by the following facts: There was a low rate of increase in the cereal supply relative to other food items, The vegetable supply annual growth rate was highest in the UAE (4%) compared to the KSA (1.4%) and Kuwait (1%), The fruit supply showed an increasing trend in the KSA and a decreasing trend in Kuwait and the UAE, The shares of sugar and sweeteners in the food supply in KSA and Kuwait show increasing patterns, contrary to the situation in the UAE, Vegetable oils and animal fats supplies showed increasing patterns in both KSA and Kuwait, with contrasting trends in the UAE. Conclusion: There is a shift in dietary energy supply, protein and fat preference towards vegetal sources in the UAE and to animal products in the KSA and Kuwait. Moreover, the macronutrient contribution to caloric value showed disparity among GCC countries.

This research utilized the bagging machine learning algorithm along with the Thornthwaite moisture index (TMI) to enhance the understanding of climate variability and change, with the objective of identifying the most efficient climate service pathways in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Monthly datasets at a 0.5° resolution (1960–2020) were collected and analyzed using R 4.2.2 software and spreadsheets. The results indicate significant changes in climatic conditions in Sudan, with aridity escalation at a rate of 0.37% per year. The bagging algorithm illustrated that actual water use was mainly influenced by rainfall and runoff management, showing an inverse relationship with increasing air temperatures. Consequently, sustainable strategies focusing on runoff and temperature control, such as rainwater harvesting, agroforestry and plant breeding were identified as the most effective climate services to mitigate and adapt to climate variability in SSA. The findings suggest that runoff management (e.g., rainwater harvesting) could potentially offset up to 22% of the adverse impacts of climate variability, while temperature control strategies (e.g., agroforestry) could account for the remaining 78%. Without these interventions, climate variability will continue to pose serious challenges to food security, livelihood generations, and regional stability. The research calls for further in-depth studies on the attributions of climate variability using finer datasets.

Saudi Arabia is actively boosting women’s labor force participation, exceeding 2022 targets to enhance human capital. The purpose of this study is to examine the nexus between women’s empowerment and economic growth using secondary data from 1997 to 2022. Empowerment was proxied by Saudi women employed in government, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and female B.Sc. holders used as explanatory variables. The result of the Johansen test depicts a long-run equilibrium relationship between these variables. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) revealed a significant negative short-term impact of GDP on women’s empowerment at the 5% level, while female graduates had a positive short-term effect. The model results indicated rapid adjustment, correcting about 71% of disequilibrium per period towards long-run equilibrium. Importantly, a significant positive long-run relationship exists between women’s empowerment and economic growth. Diagnostic tests confirmed the VECM’s reliability, reflected by normally distributed residuals, with no significant autocorrelation, and overall model stability. The study findings contribute valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders striving to achieve gender equity and sustainable economic development. Moreover, qualitative methods could be employed in future research to enhance the comprehensive understanding of the cultural and social barriers to maximize the long-run virtuous cycle of empowerment and economic growth.

African countries have created many regional trade agreements with the economic objectives of reducing trade barriers and encouraging economic growth. The COMESA is an example of regional integration singed on 1993 by 19 African countries including Sudan. COMESA represents a chance for member countries to enhance their economic and social relations through increasing intra-trade. The objective of this paper is to assess the role of COMESA in promoting intra-regional agricultural trade between Sudan and COMESA countries. A multi-market model with Armington non-linear specification was applied. The paper results showed that there is a great potential for Sudan to increase its agricultural exports to other COMESA countries. The domestic agricultural markets are expected to be hampered by imports surge and increase in competition, while the producers of agricultural export commodities will be better off. In order to compete and benefit from potential in the COMESA markets, the paper recommended improving efficiency in the Sudanese agricultural sector through increasing productivity, lowering cost of production, enhancing marketing services, attaining economies of scale and attracting foreign investment