Action Against Hunger reports acute food shortage affecting 24.6 million people in Sudan — Deutsche Welle
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has intensified in North Kordofan state and parts of Blue Nile state in Sudan. Thousands of civilians have been forced to leave their homes at the height of the planting season, Deutsche Welle reports.
The war between the two sides and formations allied with them has continued since April 2023. The Sudanese Armed Forces control the north and center of the country, including Khartoum, while the Rapid Support Forces maintain positions in western Darfur and parts of the south. According to the UN and international humanitarian organizations, more than 12.4 million Sudanese have been displaced by the war — within the country and to neighboring states. Estimates of the death toll range from 40,000 to 250,000 people.
Acute food insecurity
Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust, executive director of the German branch of Action Against Hunger, said that 24.6 million people in Sudan are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. According to him, about 825,000 children under the age of five will have severe acute malnutrition in 2026, while an estimated 4.2 million children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women overall have acute malnutrition.
In October, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWS NET, reported that several areas, including camps for internally displaced people in Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, could face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity under the IPC classification. Fabrizia Falcone, a representative of the UN Population Fund in Sudan, noted that more than 700,000 people in the Tawila camp depend on a single hospital where cesarean sections can be performed.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The 2026 humanitarian response plan calls for $2.9 billion, but is funded at only 41%: international donors have provided $1.2 billion.
Drought, floods and drone strikes
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that extreme heat and severe flooding are worsening the situation. Hager Ali, a researcher at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, said drought has affected about half of Sudan, while heavy rains and localized flooding have complicated the situation in other areas.
She also reported that fertilizer supplies had fallen from 450,000 to about 50,000 tonnes in 2026, along with a shortage of diesel fuel. This complicates the operation of agricultural machinery and increases the cost of transporting humanitarian and agricultural cargo.
In October, the UN Security Council extended the arms embargo only for Darfur until December 11 and did not extend it to the entire country. According to Hager Ali's assessment, drone strikes became the main cause of civilian casualties in Sudan in 2026.
