The hunger crisis in Sudan is worsening. Across the country, malnutrition is spreading rapidly, with children bearing the heaviest burden. Recent surveys show a 46 % increase in children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of malnutrition. UNICEF
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating war as the National Army is battling the Rapid Support militia, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 11 million people, and driven multiple regions into famine and hunger.
In an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), global food security experts said that "famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have now been surpassed" in North Darfur's contested areas of Um Baru and Kernoi, near the border with Chad.
They added that the spread of famine came as the fall of North Darfur capital El-Fasher led to "massive displacement of residents and displaced persons into surrounding areas of North Darfur".
El-Fasher, long the Sudanese army's final stronghold in western Darfur, fell to the militia last October after 18 months of bombardment and starvation.
Thursday's alert, based on data available up to February, comes nearly three months after the IPC confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) to the east.
Fragile areas
Kadugli endured a punishing Rapid Support militia siege for much of the country's nearly three-year conflict before the army lifted the blockade this week.
Nearby Dilling, where the army also broke a militia siege earlier this month, is believed to be experiencing similar famine conditions, though lack of access and ongoing insecurity prevented a formal declaration.
The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan's Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan were at risk of famine.
Fighting between the National Army and the Rapid Support militia in Kordofan, now a key battleground, has displaced about 88,000 people since October, the latest UN figures show.
The fall of El-Fasher, which was accompanied by reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions, also pushed at least 127,000 people to flee to nearby towns, according to the same data.
"The movement of tens of thousands of people facing hunger and malnutrition into already fragile areas of North Darfur is likely to sharply increase the number of people facing catastrophic food insecurity," the IPC experts said.
Across Sudan, more than 21 million people, almost half of the population, are now facing acute food insecurity, with two-thirds of the population in urgent need of assistance, according to the UN.
The war, nearing the three-year mark, has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the National Army holding the north, east, and centre and the Rapid Support militia dominating Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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