Khartoum: The workshop on reducing wastage of sacrificial hides, held as part of the 'Zero Waste' initiative organized by the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries in cooperation with the Sudan News Agency (SUNA), issued a set of recommendations aimed at maximizing the economic value of hides and reducing losses during the Eid al-Adha season.
According to Sudan News Agency, the workshop called for establishing contractual partnerships with three global fashion houses to enhance the value of Sudanese hides and encourage local manufacturing by September 2026. It also recommended adopting clear policies to improve hide quality by October 2026 and strengthening coordination among relevant ministries to enable the National Center for Hide Improvement to perform its role effectively.
Participants stressed the importance of engaging youth in the leather industry and organizing training and awareness workshops, as well as collecting hides across all states and delivering them to authorized agencies and tanneries to prevent wastage. The recommendations highlighted the need to improve pre-slaughter practices, including better livestock breeding, parasite control, and proper branding methods to avoid damaging hides.
They also called for addressing the issue of air-dried low-quality hides by raising indicative export prices and continuing joint coordination between relevant ministries to shift gradually from live animal exports to processed meat and leather products. Additional recommendations included surveying all tanneries and agencies across states, developing leather products, and expanding training and awareness programs on the economic importance of hides.
To improve quality, the workshop emphasized training workers in proper slaughtering and skinning techniques using appropriate tools to ensure high-quality hides free of cuts and defects. It also recommended establishing seasonal slaughter markets, raising awareness among mosque imams to promote timely collection of hides, and transporting them within three hours of slaughter.
The workshop further called for rehabilitating war-affected tanneries through financial support, providing tax incentives, and ensuring access to essential services such as electricity, water, and financing. It stressed the need to upgrade abattoirs in line with international standards, monitor hide handling processes, and improve preservation methods, including coordinated salt transportation via railways.
The recommendations also underscored the importance of community outreach, livestock vaccination, and dedicating Friday sermons ahead of Eid al-Adha to raise awareness about the value of sacrificial hides. The workshop concluded by calling for addressing production-stage errors affecting hide quality and holding a follow-up meeting this year to assess implementation progress.