Enjoy a home-grown cup of joe!
Gum arabic, which is harvested from acacia trees, is used most often to stabilize and thicken ingredients across supply chains. From pet food, to makeup, and even in sweet treats like Coca-Cola drinks and M&Ms. You may be surprised to know that over 80% of this natural substance comes from Sudan. For a nation in conflict, it's clear that supply chain issues would emerge. Indeed, that is the case for gum arabic, which has been the source of corruption, smuggling, and other illegal activities that are fueling war efforts. Curious to know more? Click on.
Gum arabic is a water-soluble, dried extract of a tree called acacia. Gum arabic can only be harvested from two species of acacia that are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Most gum arabic is found in the Sahel region, which extends from Senegal to Sudan. Its use has spanned thousands of years. In Ancient Egypt, gum arabic was used as an agent in the embalming process.
Today, the use of the product is vast and plentiful, from its application in food industry products to paint and photography.
At the end of the rainy season, gum arabic is harvested from mature acacia trees, namely A. senegal (the primary source of the product) and A. seyal varieties. These trees are usually somewhere between five and 25 years old during the time of harvest.
Small incisions are made in the branches and stems of the trees. For the weeks following, the gum's sap leaks through the incisions. Air dried, it forms a little sphere that resembles a rose-colored crystal.
Every couple of weeks or so, the gum is collected and left in the sun to completely dry. It’s then sold in its raw form or as a processed, refined product, turned into a powder or another dried form.
Gum arabic is sold all around the world, where it’s used in various commercial endeavors, as it’s an excellent emulsifier, stabilizer, and binding agent. Most is exported to the United States, Europe, and India.
The next time you take a sip of a Coca-Cola and taste it’s distinctive flavor, you’ll know that the preservation of its flavor is due to the presence of gum arabic.
As you may conclude, gum arabic is a critical component to most of the processed things we buy. It’s also quite difficult to substitute.
Therefore, you might be able to imagine how areas that export the product with challenging political circumstances and even conflict can use gum arabic as a bargaining chip.
Since the 2023 escalation of war in Sudan between its national army and paramilitary groups, gum arabic has been a hot topic surrounding the conflict.
The high demand of the product coupled by pressure from multinational firms has allowed companies to justify the purchasing of the produce through unconventional means.
The European Union, for example, implemented a project through France’s development agency to ensure that gum arabic continued to be produced despite the horrors of Sudan’s war.
Under the guise of supporting women and young people, the project states that due to the sheer dependence of the population (approximately 15%) on revenue from gum arabic, it’s an international obligation to ensure its continuous production.
Harvesting communities have experienced dire difficulties, such as the collapse of communication, transportation, schooling, and even basic utilities.
While the EU recognizes these challenges, the gum arabic project focuses primarily on optimizing the product's commercialization.
While rigorous reporting standards often accompany the dissemination of EU funding, it’s evident that in an area where corruption and violence prevail, there are gaps in their regulations.
Large, multinational companies, such as L'Oréal and Nestle, depend greatly on gum arabic in their commercial processing.
Since April 2023, the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has taken control over the primary regions that produce gum arabic, namely Kordofan and Darfur.
Sudanese traders can only market gum arabic under the condition that they pay a fee to the RSF. This means that its circulation is conducted without proper certification, which would require the product to be conflict-free.
Simultaneously, the product is also being circulated in unofficial routes, particularly through “informal border markets.”
The RSF denies exploitation of the product, stating that it only collects a small fee for its distribution and that slander should be considered propaganda against the group.
Other nations, which hold a smaller production capacity in comparison to Sudan, such as Chad, Egypt, and Senegal, have pushed their production of gum arabic on the market.
Food industry insiders have shared that it’s nearly impossible to really identify at the moment the source of the product’s supply.
Traders are not forthcoming with sourcing information. The Association for International Promotion of Gums even issued a statement that the supply chain of the product is not effected by the conflict in Sudan.
Most major manufactures altogether refuse to comment on the matter, as smuggled gums along informal networks make their way to traders and, therefore, to the larger supply chain.
Before 2023, the product would be sorted in Khartoum, transported to Port Sudan, and then subsequently shipped via the Suez Canal to its respective global destinations.
Since 2024, RSF-affiliated markets emerged along borderlands and to neighbors Central African Republic and Kenya, where the product is illicitly exported.
Gum arabic is an essential product for the mass production of many products across industries. With a lack of certification and a nearly untraceable smuggling network, the supply chain issues mean producers cannot guarantee the product is conflict-free.
Sources: (Britannica) (European Union) (Reuters)
See also: Cosmetics through the ages: from ancient Egypt to the 20th century
Key ingredient in Coca-Cola and M&Ms is being smuggled from war-torn Sudan
Nearly 80% of the world’s gum arabic comes from Sudan
FOOD Conflict
Gum arabic, which is harvested from acacia trees, is used most often to stabilize and thicken ingredients across supply chains. From pet food to makeup, and even in sweet treats like Coca-Cola drinks and M&Ms.
You may be surprised to know that over 80% of this natural substance comes from Sudan. For a nation in conflict, it's clear that supply chain issues would emerge. Indeed, that is the case for gum arabic, which has been the source of corruption, smuggling, and other illegal activities that are fueling war efforts. Curious to know more? Click on.