Powering resilience: Solar irrigation helps refugees and host communities thrive in Sudan

In White Nile State, the landscape lies wide and bare beneath a vast blue sky - sandy earth hardened by sun, with fine dust lifting with the wind. A single paved road runs alongside the Nile. Everywhere else, dirt tracks cut across the dry earth.

By mid-morning, temperatures climb steadily. Rainfall has become increasingly erratic, arriving late, falling too heavily, or not coming at all, leaving many families unable to rely on agriculture as a stable source of income. When the rains do come, they are accompanied by a destructive force: the annual floods along the White Nile inundate shelters, destroy harvests, contaminate water sources and force families who have already fled conflict to additional hardship, compounding displacement with natural disaster.

Yet along the riverbanks, patches of green sorghum stand in sharp contrast to the surrounding land. Water flows through narrow channels between the fields, pumped directly from the Nile by solar-powered irrigation systems that change the land in dramatic and productive ways. Through climate-smart agriculture initiatives supported by the Government of the Netherlands (PROSPECTS-funds), UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is bringing solar-powered irrigation to shared farmland across White Nile State. The system provides reliable access to water during critical growing seasons, helping improve food security and support stable livelihoods throughout the year for around 10,000 people. Beneficiaries include South Sudanese refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), and host community members, with refugees representing around 50 per cent of beneficiaries and internally displaced people and host communities making up the remaining 50 per cent.

The shared farmland brings together host community members, refugees and internally displaced families who work the land side by side. Groups form cooperatives, setting up their own committees, agreeing on rules and registering with local authorities. This community-owned structure turns a shared field into something more than a farming arrangement. Decisions about planting schedules, water use and the division of harvests are made collectively by the people who work the land together. This strengthens the bond of social cohesion or peaceful co-existence among refugees, IDPs and host communities.

For Hussein Abdelrahman, a farmer from the host community of Al Hudayb village, the difference is tangible – and welcome.

“In the past, we waited for the rains,” he says. “If they were late or too short, we lost the season. Now, thanks to the irrigation system, the water is reliable. We can plan our planting. We can think beyond just surviving.”

Mohamed Elamin, a member of the host community trained to oversee the irrigation system, checks the pump every morning.

“We monitor solar panels and water pressure every day,” he explains. “If there is dust, we clean it. If there is a blockage, we fix it. The farmers rely on this water.”

Before the installation of the pump, irrigation was not possible.

“When the rains failed, the crops failed,” Mohamed says. “There was no alternative. Now we can bring water from the river when it is needed. That protects months of work.”

White Nile State has long relied on agriculture. In recent years, however, conflict, displacement and climate change have reshaped daily life. Rainfall has become scarce, temperatures have risen and competition over natural resources has intensified.

At the same time, the State has received growing numbers of people fleeing violence in other parts of Sudan. By the end of April 2026, more than 360,000 people were internally displaced in White Nile State, while over 410,000 South Sudanese refugees are hosted in the area. Many arrive with farming skills but without access to land, tools or livelihood opportunities.

For Fatima Hassan Mohamed and other displaced families like hers, the irrigated plots represent more than improved harvests - they offer a return to dignity and reinforce peaceful co-existence.

“When we arrived, we depended entirely on assistance and the goodwill of our Sudanese brothers and sisters,” Fatima recalls. “We had farmed all our lives, but without water and land, there was nothing we could do, just wait and hope Allah would listen to our prayers.”

Today, she cultivates sorghum alongside members of the host community. The work is shared, so are decisions – and the harvest.

“When we work the land together, it brings us closer. We are not just receiving help - we are producing food.”

The solar-powered system ensures a steady and uninterrupted water supply during peak agricultural seasons. For farmers, that reliability translates into food on the table and a more stable income.

“Sorghum needs water at the right time,” explains Hussein. “Now we can irrigate when it matters most.”

Through PROSPECTS Partnership, UNHCR and partners are helping refugees, displaced people and host communities move beyond emergency assistance toward more sustainable livelihood opportunities.

In a place where scarce rins or floods can destroy and entire year’s crops and earnings, combining climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy and livelihood support, is helping safeguarding harvests, strengthen food security and build the conditions for peaceful co-existence, reducing pressure on communities already overstretched by years of conflict and displacement.

For families along the White Nile, the river is no longer only a source of water - it represents a measure of security in an uncertain environment.

Standing in the middle of the sorghum field, watching the crops sway in the heat, Fatima reflects what the harvest represents.

“This land has seen many hardships,” she says. “But if we care for it together, it can still give us a future.”