The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently expanding its emergency food and nutrition assistance in response to the looming famine in war-torn Sudan. As the conflict intensifies in areas such as El Fasher and Khartoum, civilian conditions continue to deteriorate.
WFP plans to extend its operations to deliver life-saving food and nutrition aid to an additional five million people by the end of this year.
This expansion will double the number of people WFP initially planned to support in 2024. The rapid escalation of hunger in Sudan and neighboring countries, which have received millions of refugees fleeing the conflict, is creating a hunger crisis that could become the largest in the world.
“Sudan is gripped by widespread hunger and malnutrition,” said Michael Dunford, WFP’s Regional Director for East Africa. “WFP continues to expand its food and nutrition assistance to reach millions enduring the daily horrors of war.
The situation is already catastrophic and could worsen unless support reaches all those affected by the conflict.”
As part of the expanded aid, WFP will provide cash assistance to 1.2 million people across 12 states, giving a vital boost to local markets and food producers.
Simultaneously, WFP is increasing the amount of food or cash distributed to counter the most severe hunger levels. This includes aid for over two million people in more than 40 identified hunger hotspots.
Many are at risk of slipping into famine-like conditions if they do not receive urgent and sustained support, particularly in active conflict areas like Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al Jazirah.
“The situation in Sudan is not forgotten but neglected,” Dunford added. “It is already the world’s largest displacement crisis and could become the largest hunger crisis.
Unfortunately, it does not receive the necessary attention and support to avoid a nightmarish scenario for the Sudanese people, while world leaders focus elsewhere. The world cannot claim ignorance of how dire the situation in Sudan is or the urgent need for action.”
WFP is working around the clock to expand access and open new humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies across the country, including through frontlines from eastern Sudan via Ad-Dabbah in Northern State, from Kosti to Kordofan, and across borders from Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.
The program is also pre-positioning food supplies at key border crossings and along supply routes, as the impending rainy season will render roads in Darfur and Kordofan impassable.
Additionally, WFP is collaborating with smallholder farmers, many of whom have been displaced by the conflict, to boost wheat production.
This program, funded by the African Development Bank, has provided 170,000 farmers with climate-adapted wheat seeds and fertilizers for the first season, increasing their production by up to 70% over the past year, providing a critical safety net as the lean season begins in Sudan.
Despite the ongoing war, humanitarian agencies struggle to support all those in need. Food security is deteriorating significantly and could reach levels not seen in Sudan since the early 2000s.
Famine-like conditions are not solely due to food shortages but also to the lack of medical care and clean water—a devastating reality for Sudan. People resort to desperate measures for survival, such as eating grass and wild leaves.
Child malnutrition in Sudan has reached alarming levels, threatening an entire generation. Children are already dying from malnutrition-related causes.