UNITED NATIONS: Rhino – A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday, that 42 per cent of Sudan’s total population – about 20.3 million people – struggled to find enough food last year, after the outbreak of conflict in April 2023.

The report noted that the number of people affected by food shortages in Sudan is the largest in the world among those facing “emergency” levels of acute food insecurity, or those who have reached stage 4 in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, with stage 5 indicating the highest level of risk.

The report emphasized the need for immediate humanitarian access into and through Sudan to avoid further deterioration of the situation, with only a few weeks left before the start of the planting season.

FAO official, Mr. Dominique Bergion, said:(What we are very concerned about is that the bulk of these people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Jazira state, for example, is vital for food production. About 50 per cent of Sudan’s wheat production comes from the state).

He emphasized the need to provide people with agricultural inputs on time so that they can cultivate their fields wherever possible, adding: “If these people fail to cultivate their fields, it means we have to be prepared for massive food aid requirements until the next harvest next year.”

Some 36 million people in 39 countries last year faced the fourth stage of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSC) – emergency levels, four per cent more than in 2022. More than a third of them were in Sudan and Afghanistan.

“Households in this critical situation face large food gaps, which are either reflected in high rates of acute malnutrition and excess mortality or are mitigated by emergency coping strategies,” said the Global Report on Food Crises.