GENEVA (Reuters) -Several areas south of Sudan’s capital Khartoum are at risk of famine, the World Food Programme said on Tuesday, with need on the ground outstripping resources amidst a food aid funding shortfall for war-ravaged Sudanese regions.
“The level of hunger and destitution and desperation that was found (is) severe and confirmed the risk of famine in those areas,” Laurent Bukera, WFP Country Director in Sudan, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Port Sudan.
The U.N. food agency said it had reached one million people in seven localities in Khartoum, after gaining access to the capital.
Sudan’s conflict between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces has displaced millions and split the country into rival zones of control with the RSF still deeply embedded in western Sudan.
In late March the army took control of the capital from the RSF — which had blocked aid access to the city — following two years of devastating conflict.
Jebel Awlia was an example of a locality cited by the WFP where there is severe hunger.
The agency said rations of oil and pulses had been reduced in its food distributions, because it faces a funding shortfall of $500 million for emergency food and cash assistance, as donor states reduce humanitarian funding.
“Supplements for young children and pregnant and nursing mothers are out of reach because of a lack of resources … Without urgent support we will not be able to deliver the food package that the Sudanese need,” Bukera added.
In April the WFP said rations in areas at risk of famine have been reduced to 70% of a standard WFP ration (equal to 2100 kcal per day).
The WFP said it is currently assisting four million people across Sudan.
War in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and the RSF.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Friederike Heine, William Maclean)
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