Labour supply for cotton picking in the Blue Nile agricultural schemes of The Sudan

Cotton still plays the role of the most important crop in the Sudanese economy. The Blue Nile Agricultural Corporation (BNAC) is a government organization established to administer about 270 000 feddans of cotton schemes along the Blue Nile. There is a low rate of family labour participation in cotton picking which is the most labour-demanding cultural operation. Hired labour is not easy to come by. The objective of this study is to examine family and hired labour supply in the BNAC schemes and to identify the underlying causal factors for labour shortage. The analysis has compared two ethnic groups in the area, Arabs and West Africans, to discover the influence of cultural backgrounds on the attitude towards farming. The data have shown that there is a higher rate of family participation in cotton picking among the West Africans than among the Arabs. The West Africans had been exposed to farming practices before, have a higher polygamy rate and lower enrolment of children in schools. The Arabs are originally pastoralists. The picking operation, for socio-economic reasons, is limited to women and children. The wage rate is too low to attract enough of the local hired labourers. Difficulties of transportation, their high costs and lack of good incentives make it difficult to secure large numbers of seasonal migrant labourers. Matching school holidays with the picking season and freeing women partially from home care responsibilities could help in increasing family labour participation. Facilitating the movement of seasonal migrant labourers and giving them incentives could increase their availability.