Desperation Deepens: Hunger Crisis Worsens Amidst Escalating Conflict in Western Sudan

The hunger crisis in western Sudan intensifies as the war continues
Although famine has been a consistent issue in Darfur, located in western Sudan, statistics this year reveal a spike in numbers: over half of Sudan’s population – 25 million people – need humanitarian assistance whilst 8.6 million people are displaced inside and outside the region.
The regional director for Eastern Africa of the World Food Programme said recently that People have been forced to consume “grass and peanut shells,”. Certainly, starvation and death, both in Darfur and across other conflict-affected areas, will continue to rise dramatically if nothing is done immediately to mitigate this.
Since April 2024, Sudan has had a civil war going on between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It quickly descended into a brutal conflict and according to reports, there were multiple incidents of sexual and genocidal violence and civilian casualties, which triggered the departure of refugees.
Sadly, the situation is that both in the city and its surrounding localities, there have been “increasing arbitrary killings,” systematic “burning of entire villages” and “escalating air bombardments,”. In a United Nations report, the UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan said that a city called El Fascher is the only one that has not been captured by RSF and holds thousands of people displaced by this unrest.
Moreover, this once-safe city has dozens of villages that suffered attacks: all of them located in western El Fasher. These events have resulted in horrific reports of violence, including sexual violence, children injured and killed, homes set on fire, and destruction of critical civilian supplies and infrastructure.
According to the World Food Programme, deliveries of food assistance in Darfur “have been intermittent due to fighting and endless bureaucratic hurdles” and at least 1.7 million people within the region are experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Unexpectedly, the latest escalation of violence around El Fasher has caused a halt to the aid convoys coming from Chad’s Tine border crossing, a recently opened humanitarian corridor that passes through North Darfur’s capital. Restrictions imposed by authorities in the coastal town of Port Sudan have hindered aid deliveries, the WFP said, preventing the transportation of relief via Adré, a town in neighboring Chad.