Sudan’s Harvest Faces Failure as Nearly 29m People Battle Food Insecurity

Sudan’s main harvest is unfolding under the threat of conflict, drought and economic collapse, putting millions of people at greater risk of hunger as nearly 29 million already face acute food insecurity.

Farmers in Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile and other conflict-affected areas have continued planting despite violence and displacement. But attacks on farmland, roads, markets, water systems and other civilian infrastructure are making it increasingly difficult to bring crops to market.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has confirmed famine in several parts of Sudan over the past two years, while other areas remain at risk. The coming harvest, which runs from October through January, could therefore prove critical for food supplies in the months ahead.

“What worries me most is that a failed harvest will bring starvation and disease,” said Musa Mohamed Hassan Abdulla, programme director at Future Stars Center for Development and Capacity Building and a member of the Sudan Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster. “When people can no longer access food or earn an income, the risks of violence, abuse, and conflict between communities increase dramatically.”

The pressure on farmers is not limited to the fighting. Erratic rainfall and growing drought concerns are threatening yields, while inflation and currency depreciation have pushed up the cost of food, fuel and transport.

In South Kordofan, one farmer described the choice facing agricultural communities as one between two forms of danger: “We planted knowing we might be killed before harvest. Not planting was also death.”

Farmers in Darfur are facing similar difficulties. A woman farmer in Kass, South Darfur, said poor rainfall had forced her to plant twice with little success.

“We have nothing to buy food and prices keep rising. Starvation is around the corner. We are suffering,” she said.

Despite the deteriorating conditions, local food networks continue to operate. Farmers’ associations, women’s groups, traders, local responders and community organisations are helping move food and sustain livelihoods, often with limited resources and under the threat of violence.

Humanitarian organisations are urging the parties to Sudan’s conflict and those able to influence them to protect civilians and agricultural and commercial infrastructure. They are also calling for safe access to farmland and markets and uninterrupted movement of food, commercial goods and humanitarian supplies.

Regional and international governments are being urged to make protection of the October-January harvest a diplomatic priority, while donors are being asked to maintain emergency assistance and support local organisations and livelihoods.

A failed harvest would not by itself cause Sudan’s food crisis, which has been driven by conflict, displacement, economic disruption and repeated failures of food access. But humanitarian groups warn that losing another agricultural season would leave communities with fewer ways to withstand the next phase of the crisis.

Source: FSX Business News