Agency says over 40 per cent of Sudanese face acute food insecurity

A United Nations-backed global hunger monitoring agency said on Friday that amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, millions of people face crisis levels of acute food insecurity.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s latest analysis shows that 19.5 million Sudanese - two out of every five citizens – are in danger.

As the conflict enters its fourth year, violence, displacement, and severe humanitarian access constraints are impacting children, families, and communities across the country.

Sudan country director for Action Against Hunger, Samy Guessabi, described the situation as “alarming”.

“What is also extremely alarming is the 135,000 people that are in IPC Phase 5, which is a catastrophe phase, meaning that they are facing extreme acute malnutrition, extreme acute food insecurity,” he said.

The IPC analysis found that more than 5 million people are classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), while a further 14 million people are in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis).

Conditions, it said, are also expected to deteriorate further in the upcoming June–September lean season.

While no area is in famine, 14 situated in North Darfur, South Darfur, and South Kordofan are at risk.

Funding shortfalls continue to have a negative impact on the response by aid agencies to the crisis.

Only 20 per cent of Sudan’s 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan had been funded as of April 2026.

Humanitarian assistance remains critically inadequate compared to the scale of needs, with about 9 million people internally displaced, and an estimated 40 per cent of health facilities non-operational.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has added another layer of complexity to the crisis in Sudan, contributing to higher prices for fuel, food, and fertiliser.

Aid agencies, including Action Against Hunger, warn of severe consequences if more funding is not received soon.

“Not having sufficient funding will push all the humanitarian organisations to prioritise and definitely there's not enough money to support everyone,” said Guessabi.

“We are pushed into a terrible situation where we need to choose who we can assist. That's a reality faced today by all the humanitarians in Sudan," he said.

The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 after long-simmering tensions between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into a full-scale armed conflict.