In Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, the Jebel Marra mountains stand as a rare oasis of peace and fertility. Each morning, women in bright wraps ride donkeys to tend their fields, growing oranges, apples, peanuts, and strawberries crops almost unseen elsewhere in a country gripped by famine.
While much of Sudan faces severe hunger, with half the population in crisis, Jebel Marra’s farmers struggle not with cultivation but with isolation. Their rich harvests often rot before reaching markets, trapped by blocked roads and conflict on every side. “We almost give them away,” says Hafiz Ali, an orange seller from Golo.
The area remains under the control of the Sudan Liberation Army–Abdulwahid (SLA-AW), a rebel group neutral in the current civil war but cut off from the rest of Sudan. Surrounded by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese army, Jebel Marra has become a closed enclave lush but landlocked.
Makeshift markets in nearby towns like Tawila and Nertiti have sprung up, where trade flickers amid insecurity. Prices have collapsed as produce floods local stalls, and travel remains dangerous. “A 12-kilometre trip can take all day,” says Yousif, another vendor. Checkpoints, armed robberies, and bribes mark every route.
Even in this fragile peace, signs of war are everywhere. Displaced families fleeing battles around el-Fasher arrive daily, crowding schools and clinics with little aid. One woman, a former nurse, now shelters with 25 families in a single classroom. “We have no income, no land,” she says.
Jebel Marra remains a strange contradiction green mountains surrounded by devastation. Amid waterfalls and fruit trees, farmers cling to survival, cut off from a starving nation. “We’re not part of the war,” one trader says quietly. “We just want to sell our oranges.”
