The risk of widespread famine in Sudan, driven by ongoing conflict, has been confirmed by top hunger experts. The country faces “the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded,” with 14 areas at the highest level of risk.
The latest UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report indicates that over half of Sudan’s population, around 25.6 million people, face “crisis or worse” conditions (Phase 3 or above) between now and September 2024, coinciding with the lean season.
A staggering 755,000 people are experiencing “catastrophic” conditions (Phase 5) in 10 states, including Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum. Additionally, 8.5 million people, or 18 percent of the population, now suffer from “Emergency” levels of food insecurity (Phase 4).
In the more than 14 months since rival militaries, the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, began clashing amid tensions over a transition to civilian rule, the UN has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. The country’s capital, Khartoum, has become a battleground, and there are fears of atrocities in the Darfurs.
Despite multiple calls for a ceasefire to Generals Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the Sudanese military, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces, senior UN humanitarians have warned that the situation is worsening.
“We have received news of people eating leaves from trees; one mother cooked up dirt just to put something in her children’s stomach,” said Justin Brady, head of the UN emergency relief agency (OCHA) in Sudan, in an interview with UN News.
The risk of famine threatens residents, people uprooted by the war, and refugees in 14 areas covering Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, Al Jazirah states, and hotspots in Khartoum. This risk could escalate further if local militias mobilize, disrupting mobility, humanitarian assistance, and livelihood activities, according to the IPC assessment.
Responding to the IPC findings, three UN agency heads warned that the looming hunger catastrophe was “on a scale not seen since the Darfur crisis in the early 2000s,” referencing the brutal conflict that left around 300,000 dead and millions displaced.
Unlike the Darfur crisis, today’s emergency spans the entire country, with catastrophic levels of hunger even reaching the capital Khartoum and Gezira State, once Sudan’s breadbasket.
