Sudan’s Famine Risk Deepens as Conflict, Drought and Funding Shortfalls Compound Crisis, Report Finds

CAIRO – Conflict and drought are deepening food insecurity in Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, according to a global food crisis monitoring body.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, known as the IPC, said Monday that the humanitarian situation was deteriorating across greater Darfur and Kordofan. The warning includes areas already considered at risk of famine, along with other parts of the country.

El Niño-related drought is affecting more than half of Sudan, triggering localized crop failures and depriving families of both food and income, the IPC said.

Nearly 19.5 million people — more than 40% of Sudan’s population — were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity in May, according to an IPC assessment. About 135,000 people were in Phase 5, the classification’s most severe level, marked by extreme food shortages, starvation, very high malnutrition rates and deaths linked to disease or acute malnutrition.

Sudan’s war began in April 2023, after tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, erupted into open fighting in Khartoum. The conflict soon spread across the country. At least 150,000 people have been killed, according to conflict monitor ACLED, although aid organizations believe the actual death toll is likely higher.

The fighting has displaced roughly 13 million people and driven parts of Sudan into famine.

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Farmers are increasingly dependent on markets and humanitarian assistance to survive, the IPC said. Without a rapid and substantial increase in aid, it warned, “food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and excess mortality will likely intensify.”

Poor vegetation growth is affecting 64% of croplands in North Darfur and roughly half of farmland in South Darfur, West Kordofan and South Kordofan. Severe water shortages and limited prospects for agricultural recovery are putting livelihoods at further risk.

The IPC also reported worsening acute malnutrition in additional areas, including Nyala. Among children receiving nutrition services there, the proportion admitted for severe acute malnutrition more than doubled from about 5% in January to 11% in August. Two displacement camps in South Darfur recorded global acute malnutrition rates above famine thresholds.

In North Darfur, delayed rains have disrupted crop cultivation, while “critically low” food stocks have further worsened food insecurity. Western Kordofan is facing one of its most severe droughts since 2004, based on rainfall levels, the IPC said.