Sudan sells food as Darfur starves

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Sudan is growing and selling crops to other countries while residents of its war-torn province of Darfur are starving, observers say .

Governmental efforts to take advantage of high global food prices have reaped profits for some Sudanese farmers. But in Darfur, where 2.5 million people have been driven into refugee camps, hunger is widespread despite international aid, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The contradiction is "one of the least reported and most scandalous features of the Khartoum regime's domestic policies," Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College, told The Times. He criticized the Sudanese government for manipulating "national wealth and power to further enrich itself and its cronies, while the marginalized regions of the country suffer from terrible poverty."

"Sudan could be self-sufficient," Kenro Oshidari, the director of the United Nations World Food Program in Sudan, told the newspaper. "It does have the potential to be the breadbasket of Africa."

Sudanese officials say they are attempting to achieve that goal and avoid negative impacts of possible international sanctions as key leaders face charges in regards to Darfur atrocities.

"Sanctions are never far from our mind," said Al-Amin Dafa Allah, chairman of the National Assembly's agricultural committee. "We're trying to minimize our reliance on the outside."