Millions of people in Sudan are surviving on only one meal a day as the country’s food crisis deepens and threatens to spread, according to a report published on Monday by a group of non-governmental organisations.
The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which enters its third year on Wednesday, has caused widespread hunger and displaced millions of people amid one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
“In the two areas worst hit by the conflict, North Darfur and South Kordofan, millions of families can only access one meal a day,” the report by Action Against Hunger, Care International, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and the Norwegian Refugee Council found.
“Often they miss meals for days,” the report stated, adding many people have resorted to eating leaves and animal feed to survive.
Starvation as weapon of war
The army-aligned Sudanese government denies the existence of famine, while the RSF denies responsibility for such conditions in areas under its control.
About 61.7% of Sudan’s population, 28.9-million people, is acutely food insecure, according to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.
The UN has reported widespread atrocities and waves of ethnically charged violence. In November, the global hunger monitor confirmed, for the first time, famine conditions in al-Fashir and Kadugli.
In February, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have been surpassed in Um Baru, where the rate of acutely malnourished children under five was nearly double the famine threshold, and Kernoi.
The report, based on interviews with farmers, traders and humanitarian actors in Sudan, details how the war in Sudan is driving communities towards famine conditions due to disruptions to farming and the use of starvation as a weapon of war, including deliberate destruction of farms and markets.
Communal kitchens are increasingly unable to meet rising needs, while major donor funding cuts are impeding the ability of aid agencies to respond, the report said.
Women and girls have been disproportionately affected as they face a high risk of rape and harassment when going to fields, visiting markets or collecting water, the report said. Female-headed households are three times more likely to experience food insecurity than male-headed households, it added.
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