Risk of Famine Continues to Stalk Families in Sudan as Hunger Deepens

GENEVA/ROME - Thank you, and good morning.

Good morning and thank you for being here today.

The latest IPC analysis confirms what we are seeing every day on the ground: hunger in Sudan is not only widespread but also deepening.

Nearly 19.5 million people are now facing crisis levels of hunger, with some already in catastrophic conditions, and multiple areas at risk of famine in the coming months. Famine has been stalking families in Sudan for far too long and sadly, the suffering shows no signs of abating.

This is not a sudden shock. It is a crisis – now in its fourth year - driven by relentless conflict, mass displacement, and the systematic erosion of people’s ability to feed themselves. Families have exhausted every coping mechanism. Markets have collapsed. Agricultural production is severely disrupted. And access to food is increasingly out of reach. 

At the same time, humanitarian operations are simply unable to match the scale of needs. Insecurity, bureaucratic impediments, and attacks on supply routes are preventing aid from reaching millions who urgently need it. 

For WFP, the priority is clear: we must scale up food assistance now, ahead of the lean season, when conditions are expected to deteriorate further. WFP has been on the ground responding and is ready to do more.

But we cannot do this alone. The reality is stark: funding is far below what is required, access to the most vulnerable must be improved, and the fighting must end.

This crisis will not stabilize on its own.

It will not improve without sustained access.

And it will not be solved without a political solution. A solution that is now years overdue.

Today, we are calling for three urgent actions:

•       Immediate scale-up of funding to sustain and expand life-saving assistance

•       Unhindered humanitarian access across all affected areas

•       And renewed political efforts to end this conflict

Without these, a tragic trajectory is clear: more hunger, more suffering, and a growing risk of famine.

Thank you.

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About the World Food Programme (WFP)

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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