UN: 17.7 Million Sudanese Face Acute Food Crisis

Geneva, MINA- The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday stated that 17.7 million citizens across Sudan were facing a “high level acute food crisis.”

“The food security situation in the country is very bad and has reached “a very worrying level, requiring immediate and collective action,” Adam Yao, deputy FAO representative to Sudan told the UN press in Geneva, Anadolu Agency reported.

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

According to the representative, in Khartoum state, 3.9 million people more than half the population face high levels of acute food insecurity, 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 higher.

“The most vulnerable populations are concentrated in states experiencing violence, including Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, and Khartoum, especially in the tri-city region of Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman,” he explained.

Additionally, in Greater Kordofan, about 2.7 million 44% of the total population in Kordofan state is in IPC Phase 3 or higher, he added.

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

“Sudanese people need support now more than ever and our immediate action to preserve the lives and livelihoods of rural Sudanese communities is critical,” Yao said.

“The longer it takes us to respond, the more lives we face at risk of starvation. “Funding is critical, and swift action is our only shield against this looming danger,” he added. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)