17.7M people in Sudan face ‘high levels’ of acute food insecurity: UN food agency

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday said that 17.7 million people across Sudan are facing “high levels of acute food insecurity.”

The most vulnerable populations are concentrated in states experiencing violence, including Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, and Khartoum, especially in the tri-city area of Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman, Adam Yao, the deputy FAO representative to Sudan, told a UN press briefing in Geneva.

Yao warned that the food security situation in the country is dire and has surged to "extremely alarming levels, requiring our immediate and collective action."

Citing the newly released Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) projections, he said that those 17.7 million people are facing IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) between October 2023 and February 2024.

In the state of Khartoum, 3.9 million people – over half of the population – face high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the representative, while in Greater Darfur, about 5.3 million people – almost half of the total population in the Darfur region – are likely to be in IPC Phase 3 or above.

Additionally, in Greater Kordofan, about 2.7 million – 44% of the total population in Kordofan states – are in IPC Phase 3 or above, he added.

He showed the ongoing conflict, escalating violence, low agricultural production, high food prices, climate shocks, and displacement as contributors to the food crisis.

"The Sudanese people require support now more than ever and our immediate action to preserve the lives and livelihoods of rural Sudanese communities is absolutely crucial," Yao said.

"The longer we take to respond, the more lives we expose to the imminent threat of famine. Funding is of the essence, and swift action is our only shield against this looming danger," he added.