Sudan has long been the world’s leading producer and exporter of gum arabic, at times supplying up to 80 per cent of the global export market. The most recent pre-war external trade report from the Central Bank of Sudan in December 2022 shows gum arabic ranked fifth among agricultural exports and sixth among all national exports, after gold, sesame, live animals, cotton, and groundnuts. It generated an estimated USD 139.4 million, including about USD 57.5 million in exports to France.

However, the war that began on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied factions and militias has severely disrupted agriculture, trade networks, and rural livelihoods. As the war continues, insecurity, displacement, restricted market access, and broken supply chains now seriously threaten Sudan’s status as the main global supplier of gum arabic.

The Business and Human Rights Centre invited Nexira, DAL Group, Alland & Robert, Elie Industries, and NOPEC to respond to the allegations, but they did not. We were unable to reach Sood, Ramshil, Al-Anan and Masaai due to the lack of publicly available contact information.