Nearly 19.5 million people in Sudan are facing serious food shortages between February and May 2026, as the country’s civil war continues to disrupt farming, markets, transportation, and humanitarian aid. According to a May assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, this represents approximately 41 percent of the population included in the analysis. The World Food Programme has warned that continuing violence and declining aid funding could cause the crisis to become even more severe.
Sudan’s war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group. Fighting has forced millions of people to leave their homes and has damaged farms, roads, markets, hospitals, and water systems. Many displaced families have lost their sources of income and now depend on humanitarian organizations for food and other basic supplies.
The IPC divides food insecurity into five levels. Phase 3, known as “Crisis,” means that families are unable to meet all their basic food needs without selling important belongings or taking other emergency measures. Phase 4, or “Emergency,” describes even larger food shortages and increased malnutrition. Phase 5, called “Catastrophe,” applies to households facing extreme hunger and a high risk of death. The latest assessment found that around 14 million people were in Crisis, more than five million were in Emergency, and approximately 135,000 were in Catastrophe.
Although the assessment did not classify any assessed area as currently experiencing Famine, it identified 14 areas in North Darfur, South Darfur, and South Kordofan as being at risk of Famine under a reasonable worst-case scenario. The number of people experiencing Catastrophe-level hunger was also expected to increase during Sudan’s lean season, the period before the next harvest when food supplies are usually lowest.
Children are among the groups most seriously affected. The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, and UNICEF estimated that approximately 825,000 children under the age of five could experience severe acute malnutrition during 2026. Severe acute malnutrition can weaken the immune system, limit physical and mental development, and greatly increase a child’s risk of dying from illnesses that would otherwise be treatable.
The conflict creates hunger in several connected ways. Fighting prevents farmers from reaching their land and makes it harder to transport seeds, fertilizer, fuel, and harvested crops. Roads and markets may become unsafe or inaccessible, causing food prices to rise. Families displaced by violence often arrive in new areas without jobs, savings, or reliable access to food and clean water.
Humanitarian organizations have also struggled to reach communities in active conflict zones. The World Food Programme reported that fighting prevented assistance from reaching an estimated 200,000 people in June. Aid deliveries can be delayed by armed clashes, unsafe roads, drone attacks, administrative restrictions, and the movement of front lines.
El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, has recently become a major center of displacement and hunger. The World Food Programme said the arrival of hundreds of thousands of displaced people may have doubled the city’s population. Camps and public services are under growing pressure, while food, fuel, electricity, and water have become increasingly difficult to obtain. Nearly 400,000 people in El Obeid and surrounding districts were already experiencing Emergency-level food insecurity.
The World Food Programme was providing food or cash assistance to more than 100,000 people in El Obeid, but funding shortages meant that many were receiving only half of the planned food ration. Across Sudan, the organization said it was reaching an average of around three million people each month, far fewer than the total number experiencing serious food insecurity.
The agency stated that it needed approximately $646 million to carry out its planned Sudan operations from June through November 2026. Without additional funding, it warned that specialized nutrition products could begin running out in August, general food supplies could become severely limited in September, and emergency stocks could be exhausted in October.
Sudan’s hunger crisis is therefore connected not only to the amount of food available, but also to whether civilians can safely reach farms and markets and whether aid organizations have the access and funding required to deliver assistance. As fighting and displacement continue, international agencies have warned that millions of Sudanese people remain at risk of deeper hunger and malnutrition.
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