Food and nutrition crisis deepens across Sudan

Rome/New York: More than 24.6 million people across Sudan—more than half of the population analyzed—are now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). This includes 8.1 million in emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4) and at least 638,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe.)

UNICEF said between January and November 2024, 6.7 million children under five were screened for malnutrition, and more than 415,772 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were treated, which represented 74 per cent of the annual target. 

Four months after famine was first confirmed in Zamzam camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state, more areas in North Darfur and the Western Nuba mountains have been identified as experiencing famine conditions, as access to food and nutrition for millions of people across the country continues to deteriorate.

The latest Famine Review Committee (FRC) report and new projections from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) identify famine with reliable data in at least five areas of Sudan – Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps in North Darfur, and in the Western Nuba Mountains for both residents and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Famine is projected in five additional areas between December 2024 and May 2025 – Um Kadadah, Melit, El Fasher, At Tawisha and Al Lait in North Darfur. The report also highlights the risk of famine across 17 more areas during the same period.

These findings mark an alarming escalation of hunger and malnutrition during what is typically the harvest season when food availability should be at its highest. The FRC’s classification of increasing hunger in such a season indicates that the harvest is not reaching everywhere given the continued conflict that limits markets and movement of goods. [FRC is an independent ad hoc specialized committee consisting of a panel of international technical experts in the areas of food security, livelihoods, nutrition and health. The committee is activated by the IPC Global Support Unit (GSU)].

Without immediate, unhindered humanitarian access and urgent international support, famine risks spreading further in 2025, threatening the lives of millions of people, mainly children, and exacerbating what is already one of the world’s most severe food crises.

Conflict, displacement, and restricted humanitarian access remain the primary drivers of this crisis. In North Darfur’s Zamzam camp, where famine was first confirmed in August 2024, conditions remain critical despite some humanitarian food assistance deliveries. Sustained violence and economic hardship have disrupted markets, displaced millions, and driven prices of staple goods to unaffordable levels for most people.

The next hunger season is projected to begin well before the upcoming rains – the period between harvests when food insecurity typically rises – with humanitarian access hindered by both man-made blockages and logistical challenges, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO,) World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned today.

Immediate action to preposition supply stocks is critical to preventing human suffering on an unprecedented scale. Furthermore, areas of intense conflict, including parts of Khartoum and Al Jazeera, may already be experiencing famine conditions (IPC Phase 5). However, a lack of reliable or recent data from these areas makes it impossible to confirm. This underscores the urgent need for further assessments to confirm the extent of the crisis and provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

“FAO is deeply concerned about the worsening food security situation in Sudan, particularly in Zamzam IDP camp and other settlements in conflict-affected areas, where conditions are rapidly deteriorating, and more people are sliding into emergency or famine conditions,” said FAO’s Director of Emergencies and Resilience, Rein Paulsen. “We must stop famine in the Sudan – it can be done. We need immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver food, water, health and life-saving emergency agricultural assistance to pull people from the brink. Above all, the immediate cessation of hostilities is an essential first step. We must act now, collectively, and at scale, for the sake of millions of people whose lives are at risk.”

While scaling up food, water and cash assistance is crucial for those facing severe food shortages, it is not enough to meet the needs of people experiencing hunger. Even in situations where humanitarian access is lacking or people are displaced, emergency agricultural interventions can be the difference between life and death – by enabling people to produce food locally and access nutritious food to survive.

FAO said it is focusing on supporting local food production of essential cereals like sorghum and millet; and providing emergency livestock and fishery supplies, along with veterinary services, to protect animals that serve as vital sources of protein and nutrition.

WFP has delivered food assistance to more than 800,000 people in famine and famine-risk areas across war-torn Sudan since recently launching a large-scale surge in food aid. This includes around 135,000 people in Zamzam camp since September with both WFP food trucked into the camp and commodity vouchers for locally sourced food. Another WFP convoy is on its way to Zamzam camp via the Adre border crossing in Chad with more planned.

WFP said it is pushing to get vital food and nutrition assistance to embattled locations across Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and  Al Jazeera. It provided food, cash and nutrition assistance to 2.8 million people countrywide in October 2024 – the highest number recorded for any given month since the start of the conflict in mid-April 2023. Yet, this progress could be quickly undone as fighting escalates once again across Sudan.

However, limited access and insufficient funding continue to pose significant challenges, especially as the conflict continues to spread across different parts of the country and forces people to flee their homes.

The agencies urged the international community to prioritize funding for humanitarian efforts and leverage diplomatic channels to secure a ceasefire and unrestricted access. All parties to the conflict must ensure safe, immediate, unhindered access to areas classified as IPC Phase 3 and above. Without immediate action, Sudan’s crisis threatens to escalate further in 2025, with millions more at risk.

“People are getting weaker and weaker and are dying as they have had little to no access to food for months and months. WFP is doing everything we can to get a steady and constant flow of food assistance to the hungriest and hardest-to-reach places in Sudan. We are constantly adapting our operations as the conflict evolves, delivering assistance where and when we can. But recent operational progress is fragile as the situation on the ground is volatile and dangerous,” WFP’s Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis, Jean-Martin Bauer, said.

“The ongoing conflict, continuous displacements and recurrent disease outbreaks have created a dangerous breeding ground for malnutrition in Sudan,” said UNICEF Director of Emergency Operations, Lucia Elmi. “Millions of young lives hang in the balance. The delivery of life-saving therapeutic food, water and medicine can help stop the deadly malnutrition crisis in its tracks, but we need safe, sustained, and unimpeded access to reach the most vulnerable children and save lives.”

UNICEF, WFP, and FAO said they continue to ramp up their humanitarian response in Sudan, focusing on high-risk areas with integrated health, nutrition, WASH, social protection and food security interventions.

– global bihari bureau