Conflict, Drought Raise Famine Risk in Sudan: Monitor

As the three-year war continues, El Niño-driven drought has affected nearly half the country.

The global food crisis monitor warned that conflict and drought are increasing the risk of famine in Sudan's Darfur and Kordofan regions.

El Niño-induced drought affecting almost half of the country is exacerbating the effects of conflict and displacement, reducing food availability, increasing prices and impacting livelihoods, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a statement on Monday.

List of 3 items List 1 of 3 The UN Rights Council condemned the attacks on civilians in Sudan and called for a ceasefire.

List 2 of 3 Al-Burhan Sudan rejected the talks and promised to take back all the lands from the RSF forces

List 3 of 3 Drone strikes kill 30 in Sudan's Blue Nile region

End of list "Health care is very limited, often completely inaccessible, while clean water is increasingly scarce, leaving undernourished populations extremely vulnerable to disease and death."

The IPC is an initiative aimed at increasing food security and is made up of 21 organizations and intergovernmental bodies, including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Food insecurity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality"

The IPC said farmers' livelihoods are deteriorating and dependence on food aid is increasing. "Food insecurity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality are likely to intensify," the organization warned.

Poor vegetation growth affects nearly two-thirds of arable land in North Darfur and about half in South Darfur, West Kordofan, and South Kordofan, where severe water shortages and limited opportunities for agricultural recovery threaten livelihoods.

The IPC reported worsening acute malnutrition in other districts, including Nyala, where the proportion of children accessing nutrition services who were hospitalized for severe acute malnutrition doubled from about 5% to 11% between January and August. Two IDP camps in South Darfur also recorded acute global malnutrition above the famine threshold.

In North Darfur, delayed rains that affected crop cultivation and "very low" food stocks have worsened food insecurity. West Kordofan is experiencing one of its worst droughts since 2004 amid poor rainfall.

According to the IPC assessment, in May, nearly 19.5 million people, more than 40 percent of the population, were facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Of these, 135,000 were in Phase 5, the most severe classification, characterized by severe food shortages, starvation, very high levels of malnutrition, and deaths from disease or acute malnutrition.

Sudan's war began in April 2023 when tensions between the army and the militia's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into open clashes in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading across the country. The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to conflict monitor ACLED, although aid groups say the actual toll is likely higher. About 13 million people have been displaced.

The army dominates central and eastern Sudan, while the Darfur region in the west and parts of the south are controlled by the rival RSF.

The arid region of Darfur, which is roughly the size of Spain, has seen some of the worst violence, with attacks on refugee camps and ethnic cleansing that have killed thousands in that time.