Sudanese starve as soup kitchens close down and warring parties block aid

The United States' decision to suspend foreign aid is exacerbating the catastrophic hunger crisis in Sudan, with millions of people at risk of dying from malnutrition-related illnesses. Since taking office in January, President Trump's administration has furloughed or dismissed a significant portion of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) staff and suspended nearly all of its funded global projects. This has had a devastating impact on Sudan's ability to cope with the escalating food insecurity.

According to the United Nations, USAID contributed 44% of the $1.8 billion humanitarian aid response for Sudan last year. Part of this funding supported Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), neighborhood relief groups that support hundreds of "community kitchens" nationwide. "When USAID suspended all funding, about 80% of the 1,460 community kitchens across Sudan were forced to close," said Hajouj Kouka, a spokesperson for the Khartoum State ERR. The closure of these kitchens has left vulnerable populations without a vital source of food.

Since the power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into civil war in April 2023, community kitchens have sustained the lives of thousands of people in areas inaccessible to UN agencies and global aid organizations. This inaccessibility is reportedly due to the deliberate obstruction of aid by warring parties. Despite the efforts of ERR volunteers, data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitor, indicates that over 600,000 people in Sudan face famine-level hunger, and approximately 8 million are on the brink of famine. USAID's funding suspension now threatens to deepen this hunger crisis even further.

According to Iyad Aga, a humanitarian coordinator for international NGOs in Sudan, some organizations received waivers from the US government to continue providing life-saving services. However, many of these services were eventually terminated after subsequent reviews by the US government, on the grounds that they were not essential for sustaining life. Days later, the Trump administration reversed some of the termination decisions and allowed some services to resume. Aga stated that these decisions in Washington seem "completely random." He told Al Jazeera, "NGOs are paralyzed, not knowing how to proceed amidst the chaos, and the affected population – the people in Sudan who need assistance – are the ones most impacted by this confusion." Aga added, "The problem is that even if other donors want to fill the gap (left by USAID's departure), there is a massive gap."

Emergency Response Rooms have begun taking action to find alternative sources of funding. Kouka stated that community kitchens have appealed to the Sudanese diaspora and smaller charities for funds to continue feeding struggling civilians during Ramadan. Their efforts have helped reopen hundreds of community kitchens across the country, but Kouka says 63% of the kitchens remain closed since the US government suspended most foreign aid. "There's only so much we can do. People simply don't have enough to eat," he told Al Jazeera. "But we have launched an online donation drive, and people tend to donate more during Ramadan."

Local and foreign aid workers say both sides of the Sudanese civil war bear responsibility for contributing to the hunger crisis. Some aid workers point out that UN agencies recognize the Sudanese army as the de facto government. This policy allows the army to approve or reject aid deliveries from neighboring countries like Chad and South Sudan, which are not under army control. Critics have previously told Al Jazeera that humanitarian workers should cooperate with relevant authorities in all regions of Sudan in order to help as many people in need as possible. Furthermore, the UN agencies, by considering the army as the de facto government, are required to base all humanitarian operations in Port Sudan, making it difficult for them to reach remote areas such as the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan and the vast Darfur region.

The army has also been accused of setting up bureaucratic obstacles, hindering and delaying the transportation of aid supplies. Leni Kinzli, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), explained, "The army's procedures are very cumbersome. It's a mountain of paperwork." "We have to deal with different departments: military intelligence, the Humanitarian Aid Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Intelligence Bureau, and the National Intelligence Agency. Basically, for any (aid truck to move), it needs to be stamped by all of these agencies," she told Al Jazeera.

Analysts and aid workers have also accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of banning aid to areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces. But army spokesperson Nabil Abdalla has repeatedly denied the accusation and criticized the Rapid Support Forces for starving civilians. Hind Atef, a spokesperson for the Emergency Response Room in Khartoum's Sharg al-Neel area, accused the Rapid Support Forces of exacerbating the hunger crisis. She said the group looted all the main markets in Khartoum before Ramadan, and many civilians are afraid to leave their communities to find food because they fear being attacked at Rapid Support Forces checkpoints. "People are afraid to flee because the Rapid Support Forces often steal people's money and phones," she told Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera contacted the Rapid Support Forces' press office for comment on the allegations that its fighters were robbing civilians at gunpoint and looting markets, but the group did not respond before publication.

As the fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army escalates, local relief groups and aid agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to reach struggling civilians. In the Zamzam IDP camp, where more than 500,000 people have taken refuge in North Darfur and are struggling to survive amid famine, the Rapid Support Forces shelled the camp on February 10 and 11, forcing the World Food Programme to suspend aid operations. The World Food Programme was providing food vouchers to about 60,000 people in Zamzam through local organizations. The agency's spokesperson, Kinzli, said, "Our local partners were forced to evacuate. They were forced to flee for their lives (due to the Rapid Support Forces' shelling), which is why we had to suspend assistance."

The fighting in Khartoum has also led to massive displacement in the Sharg al-Neel area, forcing the few remaining community kitchens to try to feed thousands of newcomers. Kouka said that as people become more desperate, many are trying to find fish in the Nile or grow vegetables in their gardens, but most people are managing to eat far too little. He noted that Emergency Response Rooms are contacting the EU as well as UN agencies to try to fill the gap left by USAID. Kouka warned that without someone stepping up, thousands of people will starve to death and die from malnutrition-related illnesses. "We are talking about 1.8 million people who benefit from these kitchens. What does it mean if they can no longer get food?" Kouka asked. "People are already on the verge of collapse. We (as Emergency Response Rooms) are just trying our best to prevent more areas of Sudan from falling into complete famine. But if this situation (food shortage) continues, there will be more and more famine hotspots across the country."