The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert shows nearly three years of war and a severe El Niño drought are depleting food stocks in Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, where over 300,000 people have been displaced since October
Food is running out and acute malnutrition is rising, with the risk of famine growing in parts of Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan.
Donors must scale up funding for food, health and nutrition, and parties to the conflict must end attacks on civilians and allow safe access.
Khartoum, Sudan, October 13, 2026 — El Niño-induced drought is compounding conflict and driving a growing risk of famine as conditions rapidly deteriorate in parts of Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, Sudan, warns the latest IPC alert. Child acute malnutrition is already above the famine threshold in two camps in South Darfur, with child mortality rates in the surveyed camps reaching emergency levels. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is calling on donors to scale up funding for food, health and nutrition, and on parties to the conflict to allow safe, unimpeded humanitarian access.
Across Sudan, harvests are expected to be near record-poor and food stocks are being depleted as prices climb. Acute food insecurity remains severe in North Darfur, where delayed rains devastated crop cultivation and forced many displaced farmers to buy food. Ongoing conflict and shifting frontlines add to the danger: even where crops have been planted, the coming season carries serious risks. With drought growing in nearby areas, Tawila, which already hosts more than 650,000 internally displaced people, could see a surge in arrivals as people seek food, water and other basic services.
“In Sudan, years of conflict mean El Niño brings hunger immediately,” said Richard Data, IRC’s country director in Sudan. “This famine warning should be a wake-up call for donors to immediately scale up humanitarian funding for emergency food, health and nutrition assistance.”
The IRC and other humanitarian agencies are racing against time as needs in Sudan outpace response capacity. More than 5 million people already face emergency levels of hunger, and an estimated 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition. These new devastating developments reflect the cumulative impact of more than three years of relentless conflict, economic collapse and shrinking humanitarian access that have pushed millions of families in Sudan to the brink, and have led Sudan to top IRC’s Emergency Watchlist for three consecutive years.
Emergency aid alone is not enough. The IRC is calling on all parties to the conflict to allow safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to people in areas of active fighting and to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. International donors must also restore predictable funding and scale up humanitarian action. Without an urgent response, even more lives will be lost, and more communities pushed into famine.
The IRC scaled up our response in Sudan in 2023 when the conflict began. We now work in Blue Nile, Gedaref, Khartoum, River Nile, White Nile, South Kordofan, North Darfur, Central Darfur and West Darfur providing healthcare, nutrition treatment for children and pregnant and lactating women, access to water and sanitation, protection services for women and children, and cash assistance.
