ReliefWeb

Situation

• Sudan is one of the world’s least developed nations, 7.1 million people in the country require humanitarian assistance. Hunger and instability in neighboring South Sudan have caused a major influx of South Sudanese refugees into Sudan, with nearly 770,000 South Sudanese arriving since December 2013 and more likely to arrive in the coming months.

• Multiple years of conflict and insecurity in Darfur and the Two Areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, as well as reoccurring climatic shocks, have created nearly 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Sudan.

• Malnutrition remains prevalent and more than two million Sudanese children younger than 5 years of age are acutely malnourished, including 550,000 who suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

• Between June and September, households in opposition-controlled areas of South Kordofan State will likely experience Emergency (IPC 4) levels of acute food insecurity due to diminished purchasing power, rising prices, and exhausted coping mechanisms. In addition, vulnerable households in Kassala and North Darfur states, as well as IDPs in Jebel Marra, will likely experience Crisis (IPC 3) levels of acute food insecurity during the same period, FEWS NET reports.

• While the harvest beginning in October will improve food accessibility, livestock body conditions and wage-earning opportunities, FEWS NET anticipates that acute food insecurity will persist across most areas of Sudan through January 2019 due to high food prices and fuel shortages curbing mechanized agricultural yields.

RESPONSE

• USAID is the largest donor of emergency food assistance to Sudan. The Office of Food for Peace (FFP) partners include the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), who provide emergency assistance to the most vulnerable. Each year, FFP assistance supports more than 2.5 million food-insecure people in Sudan.

• FFP and its partners work to save lives, reduce seasonal and chronic food insecurity, stabilize nutrition rates and restore the livelihoods of vulnerable communities. FFP’s assistance includes in-kind food aid from the United States, locally and regionally purchased food assistance, food vouchers and cash transfers for food. FFP also provides ready-to-use therapeutic food for treatment of acute malnutrition among children younger than 5 years of age.