Key Takeaways:
WFP acting executive director Carl Skau said Sudan's hunger crisis is deepening, with more than 100,000 people in famine-like IPC Phase 5 conditions and about 5 million facing emergency or catastrophic hunger.
A 646 million dollar funding gap, after cuts from the United States, European countries and Britain, has forced WFP to reduce the people it assists from 5 million a year ago to about 3.5 million.
Soaring diesel prices and fertiliser shortages tied to the Strait of Hormuz closure threaten Sudan's current planting season, linking the Gulf conflict to the food supply.
Sudan's hunger crisis is getting worse, not better, the World Food Programme warned on Tuesday, as war, donor cuts, and disruption tied to the Strait of Hormuz squeeze the food supply in the country the agency calls the world's largest humanitarian emergency. Carl Skau, the WFP's acting executive director, told Reuters more than 100,000 people are still in famine-like conditions, the highest level of the UN-backed food insecurity scale.
"It's a massive crisis, both in terms of numbers, but also due to the gravity"
Carl Skau, WFP acting executive director
Around 5 million people face emergency or catastrophic hunger, and nearly 19.5 million across Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the IPC. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces is entering its fourth year, and recent fighting around el-Obeid raised fears of a repeat of el-Fasher, where a siege trapped civilians and blocked aid.
The money is the problem the agency keeps returning to. WFP has cut the number of people it assists from 5 million a year ago to about 3.5 million, and reduced rations in many areas, as it works against a 646 million dollar funding gap left by cuts from the United States, European countries and Britain.
The Gulf conflict reaches Sudan through its farms. Skau warned that soaring diesel prices and fertiliser shortages tied to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could undermine the current planting season, since Sudan leans heavily on fertiliser imports from Gulf countries and on irrigation pumps many farmers can no longer afford to run.
The warning is the concrete version of a projection WYDE covered when the Iran ceasefire collapse revived a WFP estimate that a sustained oil shock could push tens of millions more into hunger. It also sits against the more than 800 million dollars Washington pledged to WFP earlier this year, even as fresh donor cuts widen the gap in the field. The pattern here is hard to ignore. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
How many people are facing hunger in Sudan?
Nearly 19.5 million people across Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity, with about 5 million in emergency or catastrophic conditions and more than 100,000 in famine-like IPC Phase 5, according to the WFP and the IPC.
Why is WFP cutting food aid in Sudan?
A 646 million dollar funding gap, following cuts from the United States, European countries and Britain, has forced WFP to reduce assistance from 5 million to about 3.5 million people and cut rations in many areas.
How is the Strait of Hormuz affecting Sudan's food supply?
Disruption in the Gulf has raised diesel prices and squeezed the fertiliser exports Sudan depends on, threatening its current planting season as farmers struggle to afford irrigation.
What is IPC Phase 5?
IPC Phase 5 is the highest level of the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, indicating famine or catastrophic conditions where households face starvation and death.
Sources: Reuters via Al Jazeera, World Food Programme, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)