A record 15 million people in Sudan, or a third of the population, are currently facing acute food insecurity, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said on Thursday.
This new assessment of food security by the UN agency confirms an "alarming increase in hunger" in this country in the northeast of the African continent. The report shows that food insecurity exists in all 18 states of Sudan and has worsened in 16 of them.
The ten most affected localities are in Darfur, ravaged by nearly two decades of protracted conflict and displacement. The most affected locality in this province is Kereneik. In this locality of West Darfur, new clashes at the end of April led to the death of at least 179 people and displaced around 125,000 civilians.
Analysis shows that up to 90% of the population of Kereneik is food insecure. "The combined effects of conflict, climatic shocks, economic and political crises, rising costs and crop failures are pushing millions into hunger and poverty," said Eddie Rowe, WFP Representative in Sudan.
The assessment predicts that the alarming food security situation will likely worsen throughout Sudan's lean season. It started this month and will last until September. By then, up to 40% of the population, or about 18 million people, could slide into food insecurity, something the United Nations warned about earlier this year.
The combined effects of the economic and political crisis, conflict and population displacements, climatic shocks, including droughts and floods, and poor harvests of the last agricultural season are among the main factors of food insecurity in Sudan. As if to make matters worse, the conflict in Ukraine is further driving up food and fuel prices in Sudan.
Khartoum depends on food imports, with more than half of the country's wheat imports coming from the Black Sea region.
Comments