The Sudan is the largest country in Africa covering a land area of 2 506 800 km2. It stretches in length over 2 000 kilometers, from 3' 30 to 23 degrees north, and over 1 800 km in breadth, from 12' 30 to 39 degrees East. Its great length gives the Sudan a unique range of ecological systems. It extends from dry, sandy desert in the north and north central regions through the thorny low trees of the low rainfall savannah in the central belt, to the broadleaf high rainfall savannah and lofty closed canopy tropical forests in the southern parts of the central belt and in the south. There is a variation of clay soils in the east and sandy soils in the west containing remarkable variety of flora.

The most important NWFP in the Sudan is gum arabic which is an exudate of Acacia senegal known as gum hashab and A. seyal. Gum arabic is the second export commodity and hard currency earner as shown in Table (2). In this respect, Sudan commands over 80% of the world’s gum arabic production and trade. Both species spread naturally in the central belt of the low rainfall savannah where they exist in pure or mixed stands, in the clay plains in the East and sandy soils in the West. Besides its significant economic role for the country, gum arabic plays an important part in rural life, providing a steady income to rural families especially in dry years when crops fail.

In an attempt to protect gum users against production fluctuations, Sudan has embarked on a steady A. senegal planting programme since the late fifties. From the early nineties, A. senegal plantations make up more than 50% of the annual afforestation/reforestation programmes with an annual average of 60 000 feddans (25200 ha). The total area of A. senegal planted in 1996 was 669291 feddans (281102 ha).

Over the years Sudan has developed a complete protocol of gum arabic husbandry from seed collection through nursery techniques, planting, tending, tapping, collection, cleaning, grading, processing and marketing.