Millions surviving on one meal a day as Sudan food crisis deepens, NGOs say

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - GENEVA — Millions of people in Sudan are surviving on just one meal a day, as the country’s food crisis deepens and threatens to spread, according to a report published by a group of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Sudan's war between ‌the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which enters its third year on Wednesday, has caused widespread hunger and displaced millions of people amid one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
"In the two areas worst hit by the conflict — North Darfur and South Kordofan — millions of families can only access one meal a day," a report by Action Against Hunger, ⁠CARE International, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, and the Norwegian Refugee Council found.
"Often, they miss meals for entire days," the report stated, adding that many people have resorted to eating leaves and animal feed to survive.
“Nearly three years of conflict, marked by violence, displacement and siege tactics, have systematically eroded Sudan’s food system – field by field, road by road, market by market – producing mass hunger,” it added.
The NGOs said communal kitchens set up to collectively prepare and share meals are struggling to stretch the scarce food available as resources dwindle.
It added that the crisis is being compounded by a worsening economic crisis and climate change.
In April 2023, a war erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), unleashing a wave of violence that has led to one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with more than 12 million forced from their homes, and more than 33 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
More than 40,000 people have been killed over the past three years, according to the United Nations. Aid groups say the actual death toll could be many times higher.
Some 61.7 percent of Sudan’s population – 28.9 million people – is facing acute food shortages, according to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.
The army-aligned Sudanese government denies the existence of famine, while the RSF denies responsibility for such conditions in areas under its control.
The UN has reported widespread atrocities and waves of ethnically charged violence. In November, the global hunger monitor confirmed, for the first time, famine conditions in el-Fasher and Kadugli.
In February, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found that famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have been surpassed in Um Baru, where the rate of acutely malnourished children aged below five years was nearly double the famine threshold, and Kernoi.
The report, based on interviews with farmers, traders, and humanitarian actors in Sudan, details how the war in Sudan is driving communities towards famine conditions – due to disruptions to farming as well as the use of starvation as a weapon of war – including deliberate destruction of farms and markets.
Women and girls have been disproportionately affected, as they face a high risk of rape and harassment when going to the fields, visiting markets, or collecting water, the report said.
Female-headed households are three times more likely to experience food shortages than male-headed households, it added.— Agencies