Gum Arabic, a key ingredient in soft drinks or chewing gum, was a flagship export from Sudan before the war. "It's a real disaster for the producers," said Adam Issa Mohammed, a trader in El-Obeid, one of the main gum Arabic markets south of Khartoum. Yet Sudan's gum Arabic, which accounts for 70% of global gross exports, had withstood everything from conflict to global warming. The agri-food and pharmaceutical industries cannot do without it: without gum Arabic, there are no soft drinks, chewing gums or medicines. By 2022, the country had exported 60,000 tonnes of gum, according to Mostafa al-Sayyed Khalil, head of Sudan's Gum Arabic Council.

Source: Ethiopian News May 22, 2023 14:05 UTC