Sudan sliding toward famine
Aid groups say Sudan’s war has pushed millions toward famine, with many people surviving on one meal a day and some reports estimating nearly 5 million facing famine conditions. The conflict has turned Khartoum into what one outlet calls a “city of graves,” forced roughly 14 million people to flee, and Human Rights Watch reports that in neighboring South Sudan both sides are blocking aid and displacing civilians in areas at risk of starvation. (TRT World, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, Human Rights Watch)
Sudan’s war has pushed millions of people to the edge of famine, with aid groups reporting families now surviving on one meal a day. (aljazeera.com) A report released Monday by Action Against Hunger, CARE International, the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, and the Norwegian Refugee Council said nearly 5 million people are in famine conditions or at immediate risk in Sudan. The groups said people in North Darfur and South Kordofan are eating leaves and animal feed to stay alive. (actionagainsthunger.org) The war began on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The United Nations said last week that about 14 million people have fled their homes since the fighting started, including 9 million displaced inside Sudan and 4.4 million who crossed borders. (news.un.org) Famine is not just a shortage of food in markets. It is the point at which people cannot reliably reach or afford food, children die from hunger and disease, and aid groups lose access to the communities in greatest danger. (actionagainsthunger.org) That is where Sudan’s war and hunger crisis now overlap: front lines cut trade routes, farmers cannot safely plant or harvest, and armed groups make travel dangerous for civilians and relief convoys. The aid consortium said families are crossing active battlefields just to produce, trade, or buy food. (nrc.no) Khartoum shows what three years of that collapse looks like. Residents have buried bodies in yards, roadsides, and open land because cemeteries were unreachable during fighting, according to reporting published April 12. (aol.com) The crisis is also spilling across borders into South Sudan, where Human Rights Watch said on April 12 that government forces and opposition fighters have both blocked aid and ordered civilians out of populated areas. The group said those orders have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee since late 2025. (hrw.org) Human Rights Watch said the forced evacuations are hitting counties where food insecurity is already severe, including parts of Upper Nile state. The organization said both sides are disrupting the delivery of food, medicine, and other relief to civilians. (hrw.org) As Sudan’s war enters its fourth year this week, the United Nations says hunger, displacement, and attacks on health care are still widening at the same time. For millions of civilians, the measure of the war is now as basic as whether there is anything to eat tonight. (news.un.org)
