Sudan – More than 25 million Sudanese – over half the country’s population – face acute levels of food insecurity, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) acute food insecurity analysis conducted between late April and early June 2024. Some 755 000 people face catastrophic levels of food insecurity and 8.5 million people experience large food shortages with high levels of malnutrition. A total of 14 areas – including localities in Darfur, Khartoum, Al Jazirah states and clusters of internally displaced people and refugees – are at risk of famine. These are the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the IPC in Sudan.
This represents a stark and rapid deterioration of the food security situation compared to the previous IPC update released in December 2023. IPC had warned that more people would face high levels of acute food insecurity during the lean season, without an immediate cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access. In the past months, the conflict significantly escalated and expanded to other areas among armed factions and a rise in organized violence, massive displacement, disruption of basic health services and hindered humanitarian access, which has led to a deterioration of the food security and nutrition situation in Sudan.
Nutritional deficiencies make people increasingly vulnerable to disease, this is particularly true for children, for whom the combination of malnutrition and disease can prove fatal.
Urgent action must be taken to prevent famine. Humanitarian access must be restored. Health facilities and health workers must be protected. Sudanese people deserve health and peace.
Background:
- The IPC acute food insecurity analysis was conducted between 21 April and 13 June 2024 by over 70 analysts from state and federal level line ministries, Central Bureau of Statistics, State Ministry of Agriculture, United Nations agencies, NGOs and technical agencies.
- The analysis covered three periods: April – May 2024 (current), June – September 2024 (first projection), October 2024 – February 2025 (second projection).
- The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative multi-partner initiative for improving food security and nutrition analysis and decision-making. By using the IPC classification and analytical approach, Governments, UN Agencies, NGOs, civil society and other relevant actors, work together to determine the severity and magnitude of acute and chronic food insecurity, and acute malnutrition situations in a country, according to internationally recognised standards.
- As a member of the IPC partnership, WHO provided technical expertise and information on the health situation for this evaluation and supported the development of the Sudan Nutrition Vulnerability Analysis and SMART survey which was used as a source for this analysis.
