Arabic version: خفض المساعدات وفشل المحاصيل يفاقمان الجوع في السودان

According to Allafrica, cuts to food assistance and a near-total crop failure in East Darfur are leaving displaced families and vulnerable communities struggling to find food as prices rise and malnutrition worsens.

World Food Programme assistance cuts threaten displaced families across Sudan, while households in Sheairia locality have lost a key source of food and income after farmers harvested almost nothing of groundnuts, millet, sorghum and okra. WFP acting executive director Carl Skau said after an eight-day visit to Sudan last month that the agency can reach millions caught between war, displacement and worsening drought but is running out of money.

The General Coordination for Displaced People and Refugees warned that reduced assistance could force families to skip meals and sell their remaining possessions. Its spokesperson, Adam Rijal, said families could also withdraw children from school and reduce both the number and size of meals. He said children, women, older people and people with disabilities face particular risks of malnutrition and disease.

Sheairia resident Babiker Ishaq said a sack of millet costs about SDG 350,000 through bank transfers, with sorghum at a similar price. He said a pound of onions costs around SDG 4,500, cooking oil costs SDG 13,000 to SDG 14,000 a bottle, and a pound of sugar costs about SDG 4,000. Deductions on transfers through the Bankak app further reduce families’ available money, he said.

Ishaq reported limited therapeutic food for malnourished children, inadequate diets for pregnant women, and shortages of medicines and veterinary supplies. Rijal called for donors and international institutions to maintain food assistance, strengthen nutrition and food-security programmes, and ensure safe, unhindered aid access. Ishaq appealed for food, medicines, therapeutic nutrition supplies and veterinary care.