Sudan’s humanitarian emergency is worsening amid the country’s ongoing internal conflict, with devastating impacts on food security. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis (November 3, 2025) shows that nearly half the population continues to confront high levels of acute food insecurity. Famine (IPC Phase 5) has been confirmed in the cities of El Fasher (North Darfur state) and Kadugli (South Kordofan state), with at least 20 additional localities at risk of famine if violence escalates or humanitarian access continues to be blocked.
This is the first formal confirmation of area-level Famine in Sudan during the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023—although the 2024 IPC analysis had already identified significant populations in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) across several states. This is a household-level classification defined as “experiencing an extreme lack of food, leading to alarmingly high acute malnutrition rates among children under five, significant excess mortality and an imminent risk of starvation.” The area-level classification is applied when at least 20% of households are experiencing famine conditions.