Climate change poses significant challenges to a developing country like Sudan, the largest in Africa. Not only will many of its important ecosystems and natural resources be adversely affected, but its farmers and pastoralists - spread over thousands of villages from northern desert regions to southern forests - will face increasing difficulty in wresting their livelihoods under conditions of rising heat stress and recurrent drought. The National Adaptation Programme of Action has resulted in a better understanding of the links between adaptation to climate change in the Sudanese government’s ongoing efforts at poverty alleviation.

Throughout much of the country, water resources are limited, soil fertility is low, and drought is common. These underlying conditions are exacerbated by range of human pressures, creating a situation in which Sudan is already highly vulnerable to current climatic shocks - and apart from taking adaptive measures - will become even more vulnerable in the face of future climate change.