By Olivia Le Poidevin and Nafisa Eltahir
Geneve/Cairo — Acute malnutrition has reached famine levels in two more areas of North Darfur, Sudan, a global hunger monitor said on Thursday, amid a civil war that has displaced millions and triggered waves of ethnically charged violence.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have been surpassed in Um Baru — where the rate of acutely malnourished children aged under five years was nearly double the famine threshold — and Kernoi.
The IPC alert is not a formal famine classification, but it highlights alarming levels of hunger based on the latest data.
The two localities near the border with Chad received some of the tens of thousands who fled the district of al-Fashir — previously determined to be in famine — late last year when it fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Kernoi and Um Baru then saw clashes as the RSF sought to consolidate control.
The civil war, which began nearly three years ago between the RSF and the Sudanese army, has caused widespread hunger. In November, the global hunger monitor confirmed for the first time famine conditions in al-Fashir, as well as Kadugli — where on Tuesday the Sudanese army said it had broken a years-long siege on the city.
Cases of acute malnutrition are rising in the country, with nearly 4.2-million estimated cases compared to 3.7-million in 2025, the IPC stated.
Funding and access problems
Limited access to lifesaving health services across North Darfur has compounded the problem, the IPC stated. In Kernoi, only 25% of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were enrolled in treatment programmes, while in Greater Kordofan, conflict has severely disrupted food production and supply lines, according to the IPC.
One of the major aid groups operating in Sudan, Care International, said its ability to respond was also being limited by global donor funding cuts.
“Starvation has really become entrenched in some of the places where we’re working,” Care’s humanitarian advocacy adviserr, Elizabeth Courtney, said.
Funding is urgently needed to scale up supplies ahead of the rainy season and lean season, when food stocks from the previous harvest are low or depleted, Courtney said.
