INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCE RESEARCH
IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY

This research aims to clarify regional development policies and their implications on agricultural development in Sudan from 1899 to 1993 AD. Pre-British colonial society in Sudan was a closed, traditional society that relied on a self-sufficient rural economy. The colonial government worked to change this economic model into a modern economy by establishing separate economic policies covering the periods 1899-1918, 1919-1939, 1946-1951, and 1951-1956 AD. In 1946, the proposed five-year development program for the post-World War II period was considered the beginning of planned development in Sudan, as varying percentages were allocated to various economic sectors. During British colonialism, regional agricultural development included agricultural expansion, licensing private pump schemes, building large irrigation schemes, and focusing on the mudflats of central Sudan to produce cash crops. Following the British departure, a development program was launched for the period 1957-1961, and agriculture received a significant proportion of public investment. The ten-year plan 1961/62 - 1970/71 also set a 29.9% rate for agriculture and irrigation. The five-year plan 1970/71-1974/75 emphasized the two sides of goods produced and goods consumed, while the six-year plan 1977/8 - 1982/3 aimed to push the Sudanese economy towards self-supported growth, reduce the ratio of agricultural income to non-agricultural income, to expand social services, balanced regional distribution of investment, and provide food products, by focusing on agricultural industries and importing industry. The National Salvation Government proposed an economic rescue program for the period 1990-1993, focusing on agricultural development and implementing a liberalization policy for export goods. Cumulative agricultural development during colonial and post-colonial produced a deteriorating traditional type of agriculture and another advanced modern type. All development plans have preferred the modern irrigated agricultural pattern because agricultural production in the traditional pattern is under risks of unreliable rainfall, lack of marketing and storage facilities, personal risks, commercial risks, uncertainty in production processes, lack of individual communication, and marketing problems. The focus on advanced irrigated agriculture in central Sudan also led to regional disparity of development. Future agricultural and regional development in Sudan should considerably develop traditional agriculture in its arid and semi-arid parts, benefiting from local and non-local experiences.