Two more areas in Sudan’s North Darfur have reached famine-level malnutrition, a global monitor warns, as war and funding cuts deepen the hunger crisis.
GENEVA/CAIRO: Acute malnutrition has reached famine levels in two more areas of Sudan’s North Darfur.
The U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine thresholds were surpassed in Um Baru and Kernoi.
In Um Baru, the rate of acutely malnourished children under five was nearly double the famine threshold. The IPC alert is not a formal famine classification but highlights alarming hunger levels.
The two localities near the Chad border received tens of thousands who fled al-Fashir district late last year. Al-Fashir had previously been determined to be in famine when it fell to the Rapid Support Forces.
Kernoi and Um Baru then saw clashes as the RSF sought to consolidate control. The civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese army began nearly three years ago.
In November, the global monitor confirmed famine conditions in al-Fashir and Kadugli. On Tuesday, the Sudanese army said it had broken a years-long siege on Kadugli.
Cases of acute malnutrition are rising across the country. The IPC estimates nearly 4.2 million cases compared to 3.7 million in 2025.
Limited access to lifesaving health services across North Darfur has compounded the problem. In Kernoi, only 25% of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition were in treatment programmes.
In Greater Kordofan, conflict has severely disrupted food production and supply lines. Major aid group CARE International said its ability to respond is limited by global donor funding cuts.
“Starvation has really become entrenched in some of the places where we’re working,” CARE’s Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor Elizabeth Courtney told Reuters.
Courtney said funding is urgently needed to scale up supplies ahead of the rainy and lean seasons. Food stocks from the previous harvest are low or depleted during this period.
