Sudan faces growing hunger crisis due to war and conflict in Hormuz – WFP | Sudan War News

The renewed conflict in the Strait of Hormuz has reduced the export of fertilizers, and increased hunger in Sudan.

Sudan is at risk of a worsening famine due to ongoing conflicts, reduced aid payments, and rising agricultural costs due to global disruption caused by the Iran war, the head of the World Food Program (WFP) has said.

“It’s a big problem, because of the volume, and because of the gravity,” Carl Skau, head of the WFP, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Skau said more than 100,000 people are still facing famine-like conditions, placing them at the highest level of the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). “With this kind of statistics in IPC 5 hunger, it is very dangerous,” he said.

Sudan remains the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with nearly five million people facing an emergency or famine, despite massive aid efforts to reduce the number of hungry people, Skau said.

About 19.5 million people across Sudan are facing severe food insecurity, according to ⁠IPC. Skau said Recent battles around El-Obeid In North Kordofan there were fears that the city could face a disaster similar to that of El-Fasher in Darfur, where clashes and camps trapped civilians and hindered the delivery of aid, and where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) suffered mass killings and rapes after seizing the city during their three-year war with the Sudanese Army.

But recently, the violence has subsided El-Obeidgiving hope that the aid given can be increased from 100,000 to 250,000 in the region.

The WFP is also deeply concerned by the fighting that broke out last week in Darfur, which has forced the closure of the Tine border, the route from Chad to Darfur. Renewal of the conflict threatens to repeat the post-famine situation in some parts of the country, he said.

Across the country, WFP has reduced the number of people it helps from five million a year ago to about 3.5 million, and has cut food in many areas, including Tawila in Darfur, as it faces a $646 million funding gap after cuts from major donors, including the United States, European countries and Britain.

“We’re not going in the right direction here,” Skau said. “If anything, we’re going backwards.”

Skau also warned that the rising cost of diesel is lack of fertilizer Related to the Gulf conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz may also affect Sudan’s food security during the planting season.

Sudan relies heavily on fertilizers from the Gulf countries, while a large part of its agriculture relies on irrigation pumps, which can be too expensive for farmers to operate.

The war between the SAF and RSFwhich is now in its fourth year, has displaced millions of people and devastated much of the country. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of worsening food insecurity and limited access to humanitarian aid.