Sudan: Famine crisis worsens as children show physical signs of starvation

Families in Sudan are eating grass to survive in an escalating hunger crisis, with famine-levels of malnutrition spreading across half of Sudan’s 18 states, said Save the Children. 

The extremely high rate of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children under 5 across 19 localities in nine states is pushing communities into high risk of famine for the first time since the war began over 18 months ago [1].

Famine has already been declared in the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan housing about 500,000 people, which is only the third time a formal famine determination has been made since the international famine monitoring system was created 20 years ago [2]. 

However, the crisis is now reaching a wider population, with at least three recent surveys showing GAM rates exceeding 30% of the under 5 population – which is a key measurement of the nutritional status of a population and is one of the basic indicators for assessing the severity of a humanitarian crisis [3]. 

Over 2 million people residing in these locations – or about 4% of the population – are in dire need of food to survive, said Save the Children, with each passing day pushing them closer to death from hunger and malnutrition related causes. 

Save the Children analysed nutrition surveys from Sudan’s Nutrition Cluster — a partnership including the UN, the Federal Ministry of Health, and NGOs including Save the Children— across all 18 states, and found an alarming deterioration of the nutrition situation in 19 locations. 

The surveys recorded global acute malnutrition rates of 30% and above – regarded as a famine threshold – in North Darfur’s Al Lait, At Tawisha and Um Kadadah localities. More than half of these surveys showed over 20% of children experiencing acute malnutrition, with the highest morbidity prevalence recorded at 74.2%.

Sara*,  a Save the Children nutrition specialist in Darfur, said:  

“It’s the young children – the under fives – who are suffering the most. In health facilities, I have seen children present with visible wasting and medical complications such as high fever, intractable vomiting, no appetite and very lethargic. At home, mothers are running out of options to feed their children with many people resulting to drastic coping mechanisms. 

“We had a 23-year-old mother of four come to the clinic with her 17-month-old child who showed signs of being severely malnourished. When weighed, the child was only 5.2kg – the average weight of 2-month-old baby. The mother wasn’t able to breastfeed her and wasn’t able to provide her with any supplemental nutrition, and had been feeding the child just porridge. Thankfully the child is on the mend now, although still underweight.”

Across the country, more than 25.6 million people – about half the population – are in need of aid, with the crisis escalating food scarcity, putting children at heightened risk of malnutrition. This comes as families and children endure the most violent month in Sudan with major escalation in fighting reported in North Darfur and Khartoum, putting the lives of more than 1.6 million displaced people, including over 850,000 children, at risk. 

Recent data shows over 12 million people have fled their homes since the conflict broke out in April 2023, making Sudan the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, affecting more than 5 million children, and over 2 million people, who have crossed into neighbouring countries. More than 20,171 people including children have been killed since the start of the conflict.

Mohamed Abdiladif, Interim Country Director for Save the Children in Sudan, said:

“Sudanese children are surviving bombs and bullets, only to risk dying from starvation and disease. We know that malnutrition rates in children under five in Sudan are among the highest in the world, but the spiralling GAM rates is the last signal that small babies will pay the biggest price in this conflict — going hungry, becoming sick and potentially dying from malnutrition related causes if urgent action is not taken to reverse the situation.

“We are calling on the international community to take urgent political action and put in place an immediate ceasefire and meaningful progress towards a lasting peace agreement, and for more funding for much-needed food and nutrition support for millions of vulnerable children.” 

Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and is currently supporting children and their families across Sudan providing health, nutrition, education, child protection and food security and livelihoods support. Save the Children is also supporting refugees from Sudan in Egypt and South Sudan. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.