Sudan: 2 million more people at risk of acute malnutrition, 19 million in total

« The World Food Program (WFP) projects that the number of acutely food insecure people will increase to between 2 and 2.5 million, increasing the total number to 19 million in the next three to six months if the conflict continues » said Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary General. 

According to the WFP report, at the beginning of 2023, 16.8 million Sudanese – out of some 50 million inhabitants – suffered from severe food insecurity, already a million more than a year earlier.  » In May 2023, taking into account the ongoing conflict (…), we can conservatively estimate that the number of severely food insecure people will increase to at least 19 million (almost 40% of the population) in three to six months. 

The regions expected to be most affected, with more than half of their population affected, are West Darfur, West Kordofan, Blue Nile, Red Sea and North Darfur states. 

The report states that in March 2023, 14.8 million households could not afford the basic « food basket » which includes products such as sorghum, wheat flour or groundnuts. « This is already an alarming statistic, » comments the WFP. But if the conflict continues, the price of this basket should increase by 25% in three to six months, and 18 million households will no longer be able to afford it