IPC says drought across roughly half of Sudan is pushing Darfur and Kordofan deeper towards famine

12 October 2026

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a food security initiative of 21 organisations and intergovernmental bodies including UNICEF, the World Bank, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, said a drought linked to El Nino is affecting roughly half of Sudan and is worsening the effects of conflict and displacement. The IPC said food insecurity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality will likely intensify. Poor vegetation affects nearly two-thirds of cropland in North Darfur and about half in South Darfur, West Kordofan and South Kordofan, and West Kordofan has had one of its worst droughts since 2004. In Nyala the share of children admitted for severe acute malnutrition among those reaching nutrition services roughly doubled, from about 5 per cent to 11 per cent, between January and August. In the IPC analysis released on 15 May 2026, nearly 19.5 million people, two in five Sudanese, faced high acute food insecurity and nearly 135,000 were in IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe.