As Sudan’s civil war continues to rage, millions of people are turning to desperate measures to stay alive. With food supplies running dangerously low, many Sudanese families have resorted to eating wild plants and weeds, boiling them with salt as a last resort. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has devastated markets, blocked aid routes, and reduced farming across the country.
The crisis has left nearly half of Sudan’s population—about 24.6 million people—in acute food insecurity, according to international aid agencies. In areas like North Darfur, Kordofan, and the Nuba Mountains, people survive on just one basic meal a day, often millet porridge. Some even chew on coal to curb hunger pangs. The World Food Programme reports that more than 4 million people are receiving aid, but many regions remain out of reach due to heavy fighting.
Aid workers say violence and roadblocks imposed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have made it nearly impossible to travel or deliver help. A retired teacher in North Kordofan, unable to reunite with his family or collect his pension, survives on temporary work and sends only a small amount home each week. “There is no food, no safe roads, and no income,” he shared anonymously out of fear of retaliation.
Meanwhile, food prices have soared. A single pound of sugar in some parts of Darfur costs 20,000 Sudanese pounds (around $33), while a bar of soap is priced at $17. In Zamzam camp, where famine has hit hardest, elderly people, pregnant women, and children have died due to hunger and lack of medical care. Aid workers say conditions there are among the worst in the country, worsened by recent violence.
Even in camps like El Serif in South Darfur, where nearly 49,000 displaced people are sheltering, food aid meets only 5% of total needs. Families receive parcels every two months, but the supplies fall far short. “You can’t eat while your neighbor goes hungry,” said Hawaa Hussein, a grandmother displaced since 2004, who now cares for eight family members.
While the U.N. has urged a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the worst-hit regions, uncertainty looms over whether both warring factions will comply. With farming land shrinking, resources exhausted, and more people displaced each day, Sudan’s hunger crisis shows no sign of ending soon.