Sudan’s devastating civil war has pushed its famine into a new and deadlier phase, engulfing once-productive farmlands and cutting off millions from food. The UN warns that famine could soon spread to nearly three times as many locations as before, as violence, flooding, and aid blockages trap civilians in desperate conditions. With U.S. aid sharply reduced and global attention diverted elsewhere, relief agencies say the crisis is on track to become an unmitigated humanitarian catastrophe.

Conflict and Hunger Intertwined

The fighting — now in its third year — pits the Sudanese army against the RSF, a force largely made up of ethnically Arab fighters accused of past genocides in Darfur. The RSF controls swaths of territory and has carried out repeated attacks on displacement camps, including killings, rapes, and assaults on famine-stricken civilians near El Fasher, Darfur’s capital. The UN accuses both sides of weaponizing hunger, and the U.S. estimates over 150,000 people have died in the war.

Staple foods like sorghum and millet have vanished from markets, replaced by animal feed made from peanut shells — itself now unaffordable for many. In El Fasher, 250,000 trapped residents receive digital cash from the World Food Program, but no food is available to buy. Starvation deaths are mounting: in early August, 13 children died in a South Darfur camp. In Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains, failed harvests and conflict have forced residents to scavenge from food aid bags dropped by air, often torn open on impact.

Regional and Geopolitical Stakes

Sudan’s Red Sea coastline and its borders with Egypt, Libya, Chad, and South Sudan give the conflict major regional significance. The RSF controls a key border triangle linking Sudan, Egypt, and Libya, a vital trade route and migrant corridor to Europe. Nearly four million Sudanese have fled abroad, straining fragile neighboring states and spreading cholera, measles, and malaria in underfunded refugee camps.

The war has drawn in outside powers:

• UAE accused of aiding the RSF to protect economic interests, including ports, farmland, and gold mining — a claim it denies.
• Iran reportedly sought to build a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.
• Russia accused by the U.S. of backing both sides.
• Saudi Arabia engaged in truce talks with Washington, so far without success.

Humanitarian agencies warn that without an immediate ceasefire and full access for aid delivery, famine could engulf much of Sudan before the next harvest season. Francesco Lanino of Save the Children stressed, “Millions…do not have the strength to miss even a single meal a day.” The IPC estimates 637,000 Sudanese are already living in famine conditions, with eight million in need of emergency food assistance.