Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified in North Kordofan and parts of Blue Nile state, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes during the planting season.
The war between the two factions and their allied militias broke out in April 2023. Neither side has established control over the entire country. The SAF controls Sudan's north and center, including the capital Khartoum, while the RSF maintains a presence in the western Darfur region and parts of the south.
The conflict has plunged Sudan into one of the world's worst humanitarian and displacement crises, according to the United Nations and international aid organizations. The estimated death toll ranges from 40,000 to 250,000 people, with reliable figures difficult to obtain amid ongoing fighting. More than 12.4 million Sudanese have been displaced, both within Sudan and to neighboring countries.
This week, the aid organization Action Against Hunger sounded the alarm over worsening food conditions. "24.6 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity," said Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust, executive director of the German section of the NGO.
Friedrich-Rust added that an estimated 825,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2026, while a total of 4.2 million children and pregnant or breastfeeding women are thought to be acutely malnourished.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network previously warned that several areas, including camps for internally displaced people in Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, are expected to face Catastrophe, the most severe classification under the internationally recognized Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system.
The UN Population Fund's Sudan representative, Fabrizia Falcione, described conditions at the Tawila displacement camp as difficult to put into words. "I recently visited the displacement camp Tawila and I am still struggling to find the words to describe what I witnessed," she said. "Imagine a population larger than that of Frankfurt, Germany, forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in one place in less than three years."
Falcione noted that more than 700,000 people in the camp rely on just one hospital capable of performing Caesarean sections. "The situation in Sudan continues to deteriorate and humanitarian needs are growing, even as the resources to respond are shrinking," she said.
Despite repeated warnings, the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, which calls for $2.9 billion, is only 41% funded, with $1.2 billion received from international donors so far.
Climate shocks are compounding the crisis. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that extreme heat and heavy flooding are worsening conditions across the country.
"This year, a massive heatwave brought power cuts of up to 12 hours per day in some regions," said Hager Ali, a Sudan researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies. "Riverbeds and dried-out fields are barren, which comes on top of the damage from combat, the RSF's scorched-earth tactics and environmental destruction."
While drought is affecting roughly half the country, heavy rains and localized flooding have worsened conditions in other areas. Ali also pointed to a severe shortage of fertilizer and diesel as an additional strain on food production.
Sudan relies on imported fertilizer and diesel shipped from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Disruptions to both routes have severely restricted supply. "Fertilizer supply collapsed from 450,000 metric tons to only about 50,000" in 2026, Ali said.
