17,000 CHILDREN PER DAY IN SUDAN TO BE AFFECTED BY HUNGER BY SEPTEMBER

The number of people facing hunger in Sudan has doubled over the past year, with more than 20.3 million or over 42% of the country’s 46 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity

Four months since the brutal conflict began, extreme hunger is creating additional life-threatening risks for children. New projections show more people will experience crisis levels of hunger in Sudan than any other time in the past decade.

An additional 1.5 million children in Sudan are expected to fall into crisis levels of hunger by September, as violent conflict, displacement and sky-high food prices persist and a likely poor seasonal harvest predicted.

By June, nearly 8 million – or one in every three children – in the country were suffering crisis levels of food shortages. Between July and September, this figure is expected to rise to 9.5 million, or an extra 17,000 children on average per day.

Regions with the highest levels of active conflict are showing the highest presence of food shortages, with the worst impacted populations in West Darfur (where 62% of the population is highly food insecure), Khartoum and South Kordofan.

“People are struggling to stay safe and not be killed in the violence, while also struggling to get enough food to eat. In conflict areas, if you go to a market, you risk being robbed, shelled, murdered, or caught in the cross-fire. If you get to that market, the chances are, the shelves are empty. Dr. Arif Noor, Save the Children’s Country Director in Sudan

Sudan’s planting season, normally starting in May, has been completely upended, with thousands of farmers forced from their land and leaving the ground fallow. The price of sorghum, millet and wheat is also substantially higher than normal.  Sorghum   is the staple food for the majority of poor households in central and eastern Sudan regions, millet is the staple in Darfur, and wheat the staple food for northern states.

Wide looting of markets, shops, banks, homes and public buildings led to an increased shortage of essential supplies, further aggravating the fragile food insecurity and malnutrition.