Cooperative development in the Democratic Republic of the Sudan

This report summarizes the status of cooperative development and the operation of cooperatives in Sudan"s Northern and Southern Regions. In the Northern Region, cooperatives exist for consumers; flour milling; agriculture (including cooperatives in the areas of livestock, fisheries, irrigated farming, and mechanized and traditional rainfed agriculture); industry; transportation; and housing. Described are cooperative leadership, national cooperative bodies, Sudanese Government and Party support of the cooperative movement, cooperative training, and cooperative finance. The role of external development assistance given by the International Labor Organization, United Nations, World Bank, and A.I.D. to support cooperatives in Khartoum, Northern Kordofan, and Blue Nile is also highlighted. Cooperatives in the more remote and underdeveloped Southern Region are fewer, more geographically concentrated, and have focused on the distribution of essential consumer goods and on the marketing of crops and important agricultural inputs; handicraft and fisheries cooperatives are being encouraged. Reviewed are government and party support of cooperatives, cooperative training, and donor assistance from the World Bank, the United Nations, the International Labor Organization, and the Governments of West Germany and Norway. Summary data on cooperatives in the two regions are given throughout the text and in three appendices.