Geography
Sudan has a special geopolitical location bonding the Arab world in Northern Africa to Africa south of the Sahara. It has an area of about 1.88 MKm² and is the third largest country in Africa, after Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before the secession of South Sudan in 2011, it was the largest country in Africa. On the north-east Sudan is bordered by the Red Sea and it shares common borders with seven countries: Eritrea and Ethiopia in the east, South Sudan in the south, Central African Republic and Chad in the west, Libya in the northwest, and Egypt in the north.

Population and land use
Sudan population after the secession of South Sudan is estimated at about 44 million, and the area of the country is about 1,882,000 Km2. The distribution of the population is roughly 40% in urban and 60% lives in rural areas. 
The country is generally flat with the exception of the Jebel Marra, the Red Sea Hills and the Nuba Mountains. There are three ecological zones in Sudan from north to south: the desert, the semi-desert and the low rainfall savannah. Its soils feature mainly the clay deposits in the central and eastern part, the stabilized sand dunes in the western and northern part, the red ironstone soils in the south, and alluvial soils along the Nile and other rivers and deltas.

Climate and rainfall
The climate of Sudan is complex in time and space, like many other parts of the tropics is prone to extreme climate events such as drought and floods. These events have had severe negative impacts on key socio-economic sectors. The impacts during the last few years include the devastating severe 1988, 1998/99 floods and the 1983-84 drought in the country that resulted into loss of life, damage to property and infrastructure, lack of food, fresh water, energy and many other basic needs of society.
The climatic zones of Sudan vary from the desert to the semi-humid. Most of irrigation schemes are located in the dry zone, while the bulk of rain fed agriculture is located in the semi humid zone. Rainfall in Sudan varies from about 800 mm in the southern states to zero in the north at the borders with Egypt.

Agriculture and food
Sudan’s economy like many developing countries is dependent on Agriculture. Agriculture and the associated industries although not yet fully modernized, are the major employment sectors in the country. The dependency of the majority of farmers on rain fed agriculture and pasture has made the economy extremely vulnerable to the vagaries of weather. As a result, failure of rains and occurrence of drought during any growing season may lead to severe food shortages/loss of animals if there is lack of strategic planning. Whilst the traditional agricultural sector must be developed and encouraged, particularly in the west and south, it cannot form the principal basis for the development of the agricultural economy of the Sudan. The modern irrigated sector must play the major role in such development. Apart from the large potential returns to the economy from irrigation development, the resulting expansion of employment opportunities is a vital gain to the country, and will also benefit the traditional sector by helping to relieve population pressures in traditional areas.
The yields presently achieved in the irrigated schemes are very low in comparison to the international standards. The need for improvement and the potential economic return is great for both the farmers and for the nation. Although the increasing of yields represents an economically attractive method of increasing production, the considerable practical difficulties involved and the scale of the task should not be under-estimated. Planners and technicians should take all necessary measures to achieve a general increase in yields.

Irrigation and drainage
Irrigation projects are considered major components of development plans in Sudan. This is because of the food security issue; in addition, they produce commodities for export to earn foreign currency and producing raw materials for local industry. Many other benefits are obtained from irrigation projects like offering jobs for rural inhabitants, reducing poverty, and thereby achieving rural development in the general context. Urban centers are also benefitting through receiving agricultural products and getting relief from the influx of villagers’ invasion seeking marginal jobs.
Sudan as an example of developing countries started irrigation projects early last century with the Gezira Irrigation Scheme, and through the years, many other irrigation projects were constructed in different parts of the country. Other irrigation schemes include the New Halafa, Rahad and Suki, in addition to the Sugar schemes in Genaid, Sennar, New Halfa, Asalaya, Kenana and the new White Nile Sugar Project.
Today the irrigated areas exceed about 1.89 Mha second to Egypt in the African Continent. Because of the vast benefits from irrigation projects, most financial institutions and international lenders are ready to offer finance after finalizing the needed documents and obtaining guarantees.

Water resources management
Sudan has various water resources: rainfall, surface and groundwater. The rainfall contributes appreciably to various activities dealing with the country economy and constitutes the main source of water originating in Sudan. One third of the area of Sudan is desert, and the middle part lies in the savannah belt where rainfall is very erratic and frequent droughts are very common especially in the western part of the country. Therefore, the available water resources consist of rainfall, the waters of the Nile and its tributaries, the wadis waters, and the groundwater. Most of these waters are shared between Sudan and other neighboring countries: ten countries in the Nile basin (Burundi, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) three countries in the wadis waters (Chad, Central Africa, and Eritrea) and four counties share the groundwater (Chad, Egypt, Libya and South Sudan).

River basins
At Khartoum, the White Nile joins the Blue Nile forming the main Nile River. The main Nile River, which flows from Khartoum down to the Aswan High Dam reservoir in Egypt, is joined by Atbara River which brings about 12 BCM annually.
The Nile River basin consists of the following countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The recorded average annual flow of the Nile River during the period from 1900 to 1959 was about 84 BCM measured at Aswan, Egypt. According to the Nile Waters Agreement signed in 1959 between Sudan and Egypt, the Sudan’s share is 18.5 BCM and Egypt’s share is 55.5 BCM measured at Aswan. 
The Nile River and its tributaries receive their waters from three main basins:

1. The Ethiopian Plateau, which supplies about 86% of the flow from the Blue Nile, Atbara and the Sobat rivers and their tributaries.
2. The Equatorial Lake Plateau, which supplies the remaining 14% of the flow. 
3. The Bahr El Ghazal basin whose huge water volume is totally absorbed within its extensive swamps.
4. Only 50% of the Equatorial Lakes basin water reaches the White Nile at Malakal, while the remaining 50% is contributed to Bahr El Jebel swamps area.

Water policies
o Legislations

1. The main laws concerning water resources and their utilization and protection are: the Water Resources Act (WRA, 1995) which repealed the Nile Pump Control Act of 1939.
2. The Irrigation and Drainage Act (IDA, 1990), and the three Regulations of 2016:
3. Surface Water Regulations, 2016
4. Irrigation and Drainage Licenses Regulations, 2016
5. The Exploitation of Groundwater (licensing) Regulation, 2016
6. Other Acts, which have clear linkage to the management of water in Sudan, include the Environment Protection Act of 2001 and the Gezira Scheme Act of 2005 (recently amended in 2014). 

o Sharing agreements/ treaties

1. The Nile water policies, strategies and plans were formulated during the period 1952-1956. The water policies, strategies and plans were also updated following the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement. The Nile Basin Initiative (1999), the Interim National Constitution of Sudan (2005) and the secession of South Sudan are important landmarks for water management issues.

ICID and National Committee
Sudan is one of the founder member of ICID and established Sudan National National Committee of ICID in 1950. The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources is the main host of the SNCID.