Editing Economy of Sudan (section)

==Sectors==
===Agriculture===
{{main|Agriculture in Sudan}}
[[Image:Sudanese man preparing land by traditional way.jpg|thumb|left|A Sudanese farmer]]
Primary resources are [[agricultural]], including [[cotton]], [[peanut]]s, [[gum arabic]], and [[Sesame|sesame seeds]]. Although the country is trying to diversify its cash crops, cotton and peanuts remain its major agricultural exports. Grain [[sorghum]] (dura) is the principal food crop, and [[wheat]] is grown for domestic consumption. Sesame seeds and peanuts are cultivated for domestic consumption and increasingly for export.

Three main agricultural sub-sectors are active in Sudan: [[pastoral]] [[livestock]], [[Crop farming|cropping]] and fish production.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/771411474649783837/pdf/103352-REVISED-SudanCountryEconomicMemorandumRealizingthePotentialforDiversifiedDevelopmentTheWorldBankWashingtonDC.pdf| title = Sudan Country Economic Memorandum}}</ref> [[Livestock]] production has vast potential, and many animals, particularly [[cattle|cows]], [[sheep]], and [[camel]]s, are exported to [[Saudi Arabia]] and other [[Arabs|Arab]] countries. However, Sudan remains a net importer of food. Problems of investment finance, production and transportation remain the greatest constraints to a more dynamic agricultural economy. A major problem which has been growing for decades is the continual loss of open lands previously used for animal grazing to [[mechanised agriculture|mechanized]] [[drylands]] and [[irrigated]] [[farming]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/771411474649783837/pdf/103352-REVISED-SudanCountryEconomicMemorandumRealizingthePotentialforDiversifiedDevelopmentTheWorldBankWashingtonDC.pdf| title = Agriculture and livestock: Key for economic diversification}}</ref>

Sudan has 84 million hectares of arable land and less than 20% is cultivated. Major agricultural projects such as the Gezera Scheme in [[Al Jazirah (state)|Gezira]] state are underway in order to make Sudan food self-sufficient. Sudan is one of the world's potential breadbaskets and Sudan is nicknamed as the Arab world food basket as it accounts for 45% of arable land in the Arab world.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-19|title=Sudan: The Land of Two Niles {{!}} Islamic Relief UK|url=https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/sudan-the-land-of-two-niles/|access-date=2021-05-15|language=en}}</ref> In 1998 there was an estimated {{convert|16.9|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=unit}} of arable land and approximately {{convert|1.9|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=unit}} set aside for irrigation, primarily in the north of the country along the banks of the [[Nile]] and other rivers.

[[Cash crops]] (as of 1999) grown under irrigation in these areas include [[cotton]] and [[cottonseed]], which is of primary importance to the economy with 172,000 tons and 131,000 tons produced annually respectively,<ref name="Nations">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Sudan-AGRICULTURE.html|title=Sudan Agriculture|publisher=Nations Encyclopedia|access-date=August 30, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081007185823/http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Sudan-AGRICULTURE.html| archive-date= 7 October 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> [[sesame]] (220,000 tons), [[sugarcane]] (5,950,000 tons), [[peanut]]s (980,000 tons), [[Phoenix dactylifera|dates]] (176,000 tons), [[citrus fruits]], [[Yam (vegetable)|yams]] (136,000 tons), tomatoes (240,000 tons), [[mangoes]], [[coffee]], and [[tobacco]].<ref name="Nations"/> The main subsistence crops produced in Sudan are [[sorghum]] (3,045,000 tons), [[millet]] (1,499,000 tons), [[wheat]] (168,000 tons), [[cowpeas]], [[beans]], [[pulses]], [[maize|corn]] (65,000), and [[barley]].<ref name="Nations"/> Cotton is the principal export crop and an integral part of the country's economy and Sudan is the world's third largest producer of sesame after India and China.<ref name="Nations"/>

===Industry===
{{main|Manufacturing in Sudan}}
Sudan's rapid [[industrial development]] consists of agricultural processing, electronics assembly, plastics manufacturing, furniture, tanning, sugar production, meat processing and various light industries located in any of the 10 Industrial areas in Khartoum. Due to the many countries depending on Sudan for medicines and medical services, Sudan is now concentrating on becoming a hub for the medical industry in East Africa, providing facilities and concessions for medical investments and succeeding in covering about 70% of needs and exporting to many neighboring nations. In recent years, the [[Giad|Giad Industrial Complex]] in [[Al Jazirah, Sudan|Al Jazirah]] state introduced the assembly of small autos and trucks, and some heavy military equipment such as armored personnel carriers and the “Bashir” and "Zubair" main battle [[tank]]s as well as handguns, light and heavy machine guns and howitzers and, recently, drone production. Sudan is reputed to have great [[mineral]] resources, and exploration has started extensively for gold, of which is produced nearly 30 tons annually providing a great boost to the foreign exchange reserves of the nation, with the participation of many investment companies from all over the world. Quantities of asbestos, chromium, mica, kaolin and copper are now exploited commercially, especially for export to China.

===Petroleum===
{{main|Petroleum industry in Sudan}}
Extensive [[petroleum]] exploration first began in Sudan in the mid-1970s. Significant finds were made in the [[Upper Nile, Sudan|Upper Nile]] region and commercial quantities of oil began to be exported in October 2000, reducing Sudan's outflow of foreign exchange for imported petroleum products. Today, oil is an important export industry in Sudan. Estimates suggest that oil accounts for between 70% and 90% of Sudan's total exports. The primary importers of Sudanese oil are Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India.<ref>Energy Information Administration 2007, [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html 'Country analysis brief: Sudan'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313172226/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html |date=13 March 2008 }}, ''www.eia.doe.gov'', April. Retrieved on 6 March 2008. (Estimates that oil comprises 70% of all exports.)</ref><ref>European Coalition on Oil in Sudan 2007, [http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf 'ECOS Fact Sheet'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913095104/http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf |date=13 September 2008 }}, ''www.ecosonline.org'', October, p. 1. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. (Estimates that oil accounts for 90% of all exports.)</ref>

Most of Sudan's oil reserves are located in the [[Muglad Basin|Muglad]] and [[Melut Basin|Melut]] [[rift basin]]s in the south of the country.<ref name="Country analysis brief: Sudan">Energy Information Administration 2007, [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html 'Country analysis brief: Sudan'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313172226/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html |date=13 March 2008 }}, ''www.eia.doe.gov'', April. Retrieved on 6 March 2008.</ref> Oil fields in the south, such as those at [[Heglig]] and in the [[South Sudan]]ese state of [[Unity (state)|Unity]], formerly part of Sudanese territory, are linked to the country's refineries via pipelines. The two largest oil pipelines are the [[Greater Nile Oil Pipeline]], which travels 1,600 kilometres from the Unity oil field to [[Port Sudan]] on the [[Red Sea]] via Khartoum, and the [[PetroDar]] pipeline, which extends 1,380 kilometres from the Palogue oil field in the Melut Basin to Port Sudan.<ref>Anon (no date), [http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/petrodaroperatingco/ 'Melut Basin Oil Project, Sudan'], ''www.hydrocarbons-technology.com''. Retrieved on 6 March 2008.</ref><ref>European Coalition on Oil in Sudan 2007, [http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf 'ECOS Fact Sheet'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913095104/http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf |date=13 September 2008 }}, ''www.ecosonline.org'', October, p. 4. Retrieved on 6 March 2007.</ref>

Crude oil from the Muglad Basin is known as "Nile Blend" and is refined at the [[Sudan Khartoum Refinery Company|Khartoum crude oil refinery]]. In 2006, the [[China National Petroleum Corporation]] upgraded the Khartoum refinery, doubling its capacity to {{convert|100000|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. Oil from the Melud Basin is known as "Dar Blend" and is refined at the [[Port Sudan Refinery]], which has a capacity of {{convert|21700|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. In 2005, the Sudanese government contracted [[Petronas]] to build a new refinery at Port Sudan.<ref name="Country analysis brief: Sudan" />

===Mining===
{{Main|Mining industry of Sudan}}
The mining industry contributed little to GDP until the discovery of commercially exploitable quantities of petroleum in the late 1970s offered hope that the sector would play an increased role in the economy in the future.<ref name="loc2015">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite encyclopedia |last=DeLancey |first=Virginia |title=Mining |editor-last=Berry |editor1-first=LaVerle |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Sudan.pdf |encyclopedia=Sudan: a country study |date=2015 |publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]] |isbn=978-0-8444-0750-0|edition=5th |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=196–197}}}} Though published in 2015, this work covers events in the whole of Sudan (including present-day South Sudan) until the 2011 secession of South Sudan.</ref> Nonhydrocarbon minerals of actual or potential commercial value include gold, chrome, copper, iron ore, manganese, asbestos, gypsum, mica, limestone, marble, uranium, silver, lead, talc, tungsten, zinc, and diamonds.<ref name="loc2015" />