SIPRA Hotline: When Field Teams Can’t Reach Farmers, A Phone Line Can. How the SIPRA Hotline delivered agricultural extension to smallholder farmers across four Sudanese states despite active conflict.
The Challenge Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a nationwide conflict between rival military factions. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 12 million, and driven what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s worst hunger crises. In contexts like Sudan where climate vulnerability, fragile infrastructure, and active conflict intersect, the systems that smallholder farmers depend on have been dismantled. Extension workers cannot travel. Supply chains are disrupted. And hundreds of thousands of farmers in rainfed areas have been cut off from the practical, timely agricultural guidance they need to plant, grow, and harvest. Estimates suggest that cultivated areas have shrunk to just 35% of their pre-war levels, with some reports indicating that the area actually farmed in irrigated and rain-fed sectors is less than one-tenth of peacetime levels. Across the states of Gedaref, White Nile, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, smallholder farmers have limited access to reliable information on soil health, pest management, and market timing. This kind of practical, timely guidance determines whether a season ends in food or failure. A farmer who misses the window for land preparation or plants without knowing current soil conditions doesn't get a second chance that season.
The Solution: A Toll-Free Voice Hotline The Strengthening Inclusive Partnerships for Smallholders in Rainfed Areas (SIPRA) program is a multi-year program being implemented by a consortium of ZOA (lead), World Relief, SOS Sahel and WSER and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The project focuses on strengthening food security and market access for smallholder farmers in Sudan. As part of this program, ZOA partnered with Viamo to launch the SIPRA Hotline: a free, voice-based agricultural information service accessible from any basic mobile phone. No internet, smartphone, or literacy needed.