Sudan’s Gum Arabic Trade Fuels Both Sides of War, Undermining Peace
The obscure resin that stabilizes Coca-Cola and M&Ms generates millions for the RSF and SAF militias, creating perverse incentives to prolong the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Sudan produces 70% of the world’s gum arabic—a critical ingredient in products from Coca-Cola to pharmaceuticals—but every shipment now passes through territory controlled by warring factions that extract payments, loot stockpiles, and smuggle the commodity across borders to finance continued violence.
The civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has transformed gum arabic from an economic lifeline for rural communities into a war economy asset. The conflict has displaced over 12 million people and left 33.7 million—approximately two-thirds of the population—in need of humanitarian support. In January 2025, the U.S. determined that the RSF and allied militias committed genocide.
Yet international demand for gum arabic—used as an emulsifier in soft drinks, confectionery, cosmetics, and adhesives—remains insatiable. Corporate giants imported nearly 200,000 tonnes in 2024, a market worth nearly $300 million. Prices for premium Hashab gum have surged from $2,200 per quintal before the war to between $3,900 and $4,000, while Talha gum jumped from $1,200 to $1,650-$1,700 per quintal.
The Extortion Economy
The RSF controls a 200,000-square-mile belt across southern Sudan where acacia trees grow, while the SAF imposes fees of roughly $155 per 100kg of gum arabic exported from Port Sudan. According to Bloomberg, Hisham Salih Yagoub, CEO of Afritec—one of Sudan’s largest suppliers—routinely pays the RSF around $2,500 per truck to transport gum arabic. RSF checkpoints impose fees between $500 and $2,500 per truck, in addition to “zakat” charges.
$300M
+77%
$14.6M
-60%
A UN report found that RSF commanders in Darfur “condoned” the looting of gum arabic to ensure fighter loyalty, with traders reporting $14.6 million worth was looted between January and June 2024. In May 2025, the RSF looted more than 1,000 tonnes of gum arabic from En Nahud following an attack on the town, forcing some businesses to exit the market entirely.
Smuggling Networks Replace Official Trade
Sudan exported between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes annually before the war; during the 2023-2024 season, exports fell to around 48,000 tonnes, roughly 40% of pre-war levels. But according to PAX, a Dutch peace organization, the shortfall reflects not reduced demand but massive smuggling operations.
Gum arabic has been strategically critical for decades. When the U.S. sanctioned Sudan in the 1990s for supporting terrorism, gum arabic received a special exemption. In 2007, Sudan’s ambassador to the U.S. famously held up a Coca-Cola bottle and declared: “I can stop that gum arabic, and all of us will have lost this.”
An estimated 50,000-70,000 tons cross from RSF-held areas into Chad annually, with another 30,000-40,000 tons heading toward Libya and Egypt. Once the gum is smuggled to another country, it is mixed with locally produced gum and relabeled as originating from this second country. Researchers from PAX found that it is likely that Sudanese gum arabic found in European supermarkets today has passed, directly or indirectly, through areas controlled by armed militias.
Major European processing companies—including France’s Nexira and Alland & Robert, and Germany’s Alfred L. Wolff—dominate the global supply chain. France imported $97 million of raw gum in 2023 but exported $205 million of processed gum—a $108 million value-added margin. According to Al Jazeera, PAX researcher Joris van de Sandt said: “The trade has traditionally [been] quite opaque, and there are no clear figures.”
Corporate Complicity and Supply Chain Opacity
Despite the documented conflict financing, few international companies have taken meaningful action. Bloomberg reported it did not receive responses from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, or Danone regarding the gum arabic controversy. Nestlé said it was “committed to sourcing all our Commodities in a responsible way,” while Mars said it does not tolerate bribery or corruption and was “actively engaging with our suppliers.”
| Company | Products Using Gum Arabic | Public Response |
|---|---|---|
| Coca-Cola | Soft drinks (prevents separation) | No comment |
| PepsiCo | Beverages, confectionery | No comment |
| Nestlé | Confectionery, pet food | “Committed to responsible sourcing” |
| Mars | M&Ms, other candy | “Actively engaging with suppliers” |
| L’Oréal | Cosmetics, lipsticks | No comment |
Despite corporate declarations of “responsible sourcing,” interviews with traders suggest companies cannot reliably guarantee conflict-free supplies, and corporate associations admit they have no independent means to verify supply origins. Herve Canevet, global marketing specialist at food-ingredients supplier Eco-Agri, told Reuters: “Today, the gum in Sudan, I would say all of it is smuggled, because there’s no real authority in the country.”
Peace Prospects Undermined by Economic Incentives
The gum arabic revenue stream creates powerful disincentives for ceasefire negotiations. By controlling key export routes and production zones, both the SAF and RSF consolidate their military influence while undermining civilian governance structures. These goods, which are essential to both domestic livelihoods and global Supply Chains, are increasingly co-opted by armed actors, with revenue streams becoming central to the militarization of trade routes and border communities.
“The European companies that import these ingredients import something that has profited the RSF, and that is sustaining the war effort.”
— Esther Bijl, PAX Researcher
The humanitarian toll is staggering. Over half the population faces high levels of acute food insecurity, with famine conditions confirmed in five locations and 375,000 people experiencing famine-level hunger. More than 70% of Sudan’s hospitals have been destroyed, and a cholera outbreak has resulted in more than 120,000 confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths.
Former UN official Nicholas Stockton has argued that this economic dynamic entrenches militarized governance and rewards territorial conquest. The conflict’s death toll remains uncertain—combining deaths from conflict with those due to famine, disease, and lack of health care, the total war-related death toll could exceed 150,000.
What to Watch
Three factors will determine whether gum arabic continues to finance Sudan’s war: First, whether European regulators impose traceability requirements on gum arabic imports, similar to conflict mineral regulations. The EU’s deforestation regulation, which takes effect in 2025, offers a potential framework. Second, whether major consumer brands face sufficient reputational pressure to implement genuine supply chain due diligence—not merely statements of commitment. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo already face boycotts in the Middle East over unrelated geopolitical issues; further consumer activism could force action.
Third, and most critically, whether neighboring countries—particularly Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan—cooperate on border controls to stem smuggling. Without concerted action, Sudan’s gum arabic will remain what aid workers now call it: conflict gold in powdered form, sweetening Western soft drinks while fueling one of the century’s worst atrocities.
The stakes extend beyond Sudan. As climate change stresses acacia-growing regions across the Sahel, alternative suppliers cannot easily scale production. That geographic bottleneck hands leverage to whoever controls Darfur and Kordofan—creating a long-term incentive structure that makes peace economically irrational for armed actors sitting atop a $300 million global market.