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A DROP OF WATER: Securing Sudan’s Vital Resource

Bakinam Rahama on NGO Collaboration, Community Resilience, and Sustainable Water Management

Featured In: Sudan Business Magazine | Issue: September 2020

Introduction

Water is a universal necessity, yet access to it remains one of the most pressing challenges of our time. This issue is particularly acute in Sudan, where seasonal floods clash with prolonged periods of water scarcity. In this exclusive interview for the September 2020 cover story of Sudan Business magazine, we sit down with Bakinam Rahama, the visionary NGO Co-Founder whose organization is dedicated to pioneering community-based solutions for water access.

Featured alongside the headline “A DROP OF WATER” and a clear water droplet, her presence on the cover provides a necessary focus on a core, foundational resource essential for both humanitarian stability and subsequent economic growth. We met with Ms. Rahama to discuss how her organization balances crisis response—such as the recent flooding—with long-term infrastructure development, and to explore her vision for a future where clean water is a foundation, not a barrier, for all Sudanese.

The Interview: Key Dialogue Points

Sudan Business: Bakinam, thank you for joining us as this month’s cover feature. The theme “A DROP OF WATER” is deceptively simple for a problem so complex. What is your vision for how this conversation can change the landscape?

Rahama: Thank you for this platform. We chose the metaphor of a single drop of water because it represents potential. While Sudan faces overwhelming climate and economic pressures, real change starts small. Our vision is that every drop of water, managed sustainably at the community level, can become a foundation for health, education, and eventually, the very commerce that this magazine champions. The drop is not a symbol of despair, but a promise of renewal if we manage it correctly.

Sudan Business: Your work as a Co-Founder places you at the intersection of immediate aid and long-term planning. How does your organization specifically approach these dual responsibilities?

Rahama: We believe in sustainable implementation, not just emergency relief. A truly open and thriving economy relies on stable foundational services. While we provide emergency purification kits, our primary focus is engineering and restoring reliable community water access points (like modernizing traditional wells or implementing small-scale solar pumping stations). We train local communities to maintain these systems themselves. If we want Sudanese families to participate in the economy effectively, we must first ensure their core physiological infrastructure is secure and that they have expert hands locally to manage it.

Sudan Business: The cover of this issue also highlights a special report on “International Support for Flood Victims.” How do you reconcile massive flood events with your central message about water access and conservation?

Rahama: It is the great paradox of our region. The same rivers that can inundate farmland and homes also contain the key to our survival. The current flood crisis is devastating, and international aid is critical to addressing immediate human suffering. However, we cannot rely solely on crisis management. Our organization uses data from the Central Bank of Sudan and our own field assessments to understand these systemic trade statistics—not just of wealth, but of resources. True opening of the economy means using this climate data and international support to build comprehensive, national-level flood mitigation and water storage infrastructure that captures this water for the dry seasons.

Sudan Business: This issue also discusses “Gum Arabic: Market Shakers.” How does stable water management at the community level impact a high-value commodity sector like that?

Rahama: This is a perfect example of why this discussion is essential for Sudan Business. Gum Arabic is one of our country’s most vital agricultural exports. The Acacia trees that produce it depend entirely on a healthy water table and consistent precipitation, which is increasingly disrupted. Furthermore, the communities that harvest the gum are often in arid or semi-arid zones. Secure, accessible water for those communities is the backbone of that supply chain. You cannot shake any market if the foundation (the people and their environment) are thirsty. Sustainable water access enables a stable workforce and protects the long-term health of the trees.

Sudan Business: Your focus is on local community empowerment. Why do you believe that a “keeping it local” approach, especially with external funding, is essential for Sudan’s progress?

Rahama: We must prioritize local knowledge and domestic value addition. This applies to economic sectors like peanut processing, and it applies even more to a foundational resource like water. You cannot truly secure a country’s water future by importing alien solutions or foreign teams that leave. Real innovation must be original. We partner with international bodies for the necessary capital and technical support, but the implementation and the leadership must be Sudanese. We focus on differentiation—finding unique solutions for the specific hydrologic realities of different states, and ensuring local people are trained in the disruptive thinking that ensures these solutions last. Copying might provide short-term relief, but only sustainable, locally-owned innovation builds a resilient ecosystem.

Closing Thoughts

Sudan Business: Bakinam, looking forward, what is your ultimately goal for your organization, and your vision for Sudan’s water future?

Rahama: My goal is to see our NGO become redundant. We don’t just want to be an aid provider; we aim to be an essential, strategic operational partner to the state. We support the businesses, hospitals, universities, and commercial hubs that depend on us. My ultimate vision for Sudan is a nation where every household has clean, accessible water—not as a fleeting achievement, but as a permanent, systemic right. The water drop on this cover is just the beginning of that essential conversation. We must work collaboratively to ensure that a secure water infrastructure becomes the engine of Sudan’s eventual economic and social transformation.

A DROP OF WATER: Securing Sudan’s Vital Resource

Bakinam Rahama on NGO Collaboration, Community Resilience, and Sustainable Water Management

Featured In: Sudan Business Magazine | Issue: September 2020

Introduction

Water is a universal necessity, yet access to it remains one of the most pressing challenges of our time. This issue is particularly acute in Sudan, where seasonal floods clash with prolonged periods of water scarcity. In this exclusive interview for the September 2020 cover story of Sudan Business magazine, we sit down with Bakinam Rahama, the visionary NGO Co-Founder whose organization is dedicated to pioneering community-based solutions for water access.

Featured alongside the headline “A DROP OF WATER” and a clear water droplet, her presence on the cover provides a necessary focus on a core, foundational resource essential for both humanitarian stability and subsequent economic growth. We met with Ms. Rahama to discuss how her organization balances crisis response—such as the recent flooding—with long-term infrastructure development, and to explore her vision for a future where clean water is a foundation, not a barrier, for all Sudanese.

The Interview: Key Dialogue Points

Sudan Business: Bakinam, thank you for joining us as this month’s cover feature. The theme “A DROP OF WATER” is deceptively simple for a problem so complex. What is your vision for how this conversation can change the landscape?

Rahama: Thank you for this platform. We chose the metaphor of a single drop of water because it represents potential. While Sudan faces overwhelming climate and economic pressures, real change starts small. Our vision is that every drop of water, managed sustainably at the community level, can become a foundation for health, education, and eventually, the very commerce that this magazine champions. The drop is not a symbol of despair, but a promise of renewal if we manage it correctly.

Sudan Business: Your work as a Co-Founder places you at the intersection of immediate aid and long-term planning. How does your organization specifically approach these dual responsibilities?

Rahama: We believe in sustainable implementation, not just emergency relief. A truly open and thriving economy relies on stable foundational services. While we provide emergency purification kits, our primary focus is engineering and restoring reliable community water access points (like modernizing traditional wells or implementing small-scale solar pumping stations). We train local communities to maintain these systems themselves. If we want Sudanese families to participate in the economy effectively, we must first ensure their core physiological infrastructure is secure and that they have expert hands locally to manage it.

Sudan Business: The cover of this issue also highlights a special report on “International Support for Flood Victims.” How do you reconcile massive flood events with your central message about water access and conservation?

Rahama: It is the great paradox of our region. The same rivers that can inundate farmland and homes also contain the key to our survival. The current flood crisis is devastating, and international aid is critical to addressing immediate human suffering. However, we cannot rely solely on crisis management. Our organization uses data from the Central Bank of Sudan and our own field assessments to understand these systemic trade statistics—not just of wealth, but of resources. True opening of the economy means using this climate data and international support to build comprehensive, national-level flood mitigation and water storage infrastructure that captures this water for the dry seasons.

Sudan Business: This issue also discusses “Gum Arabic: Market Shakers.” How does stable water management at the community level impact a high-value commodity sector like that?

Rahama: This is a perfect example of why this discussion is essential for Sudan Business. Gum Arabic is one of our country’s most vital agricultural exports. The Acacia trees that produce it depend entirely on a healthy water table and consistent precipitation, which is increasingly disrupted. Furthermore, the communities that harvest the gum are often in arid or semi-arid zones. Secure, accessible water for those communities is the backbone of that supply chain. You cannot shake any market if the foundation (the people and their environment) are thirsty. Sustainable water access enables a stable workforce and protects the long-term health of the trees.

Sudan Business: Your focus is on local community empowerment. Why do you believe that a “keeping it local” approach, especially with external funding, is essential for Sudan’s progress?

Rahama: We must prioritize local knowledge and domestic value addition. This applies to economic sectors like peanut processing, and it applies even more to a foundational resource like water. You cannot truly secure a country’s water future by importing alien solutions or foreign teams that leave. Real innovation must be original. We partner with international bodies for the necessary capital and technical support, but the implementation and the leadership must be Sudanese. We focus on differentiation—finding unique solutions for the specific hydrologic realities of different states, and ensuring local people are trained in the disruptive thinking that ensures these solutions last. Copying might provide short-term relief, but only sustainable, locally-owned innovation builds a resilient ecosystem.

Closing Thoughts

Sudan Business: Bakinam, looking forward, what is your ultimately goal for your organization, and your vision for Sudan’s water future?

Rahama: My goal is to see our NGO become redundant. We don’t just want to be an aid provider; we aim to be an essential, strategic operational partner to the state. We support the businesses, hospitals, universities, and commercial hubs that depend on us. My ultimate vision for Sudan is a nation where every household has clean, accessible water—not as a fleeting achievement, but as a permanent, systemic right. The water drop on this cover is just the beginning of that essential conversation. We must work collaboratively to ensure that a secure water infrastructure becomes the engine of Sudan’s eventual economic and social transformation.

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