Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sudan faces one of the world’s most severe food-insecurity crises, with women and girls experiencing the greatest impacts. Conflict has displaced more than 11 million people and devastated farms, markets and infrastructure, creating severe food insecurity across multiple areas. Within the alarming national hunger totals, female-headed households (FHHs) are disproportionately affected: they are around three times more likely than male-headed households to face extreme hunger, the majority cannot meet basic food needs, and fewer than two per cent can reliably secure sufficient food.1 Severe hunger among these households has nearly doubled over the past year. As the crisis deepens, household headship by women has become a strong predictor of hunger. This analysis draws on a rapid gender assessment combining desk review and qualitative inputs from women across affected regions, applying an intersectional lens throughout.2
In September 2025, at the peak of the lean season, an estimated 21.2 million people—45 percent of the population faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 375,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) and 6.3 million people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).3 Overall humanitarian needs are estimated at 30.4 million people.5 Famine has been officially declared in parts of North Darfur (e.g. Zamzam camp) and the Nuba Mountains, with 17 additional localities at risk as the lean season peaks.6 Prices of staple foods have surged sorghum and other basics cost approximately 430 per cent more than pre-conflict levels eroding purchasing power.7 Insecurity, besiegement and attacks on supply routes prevent millions of people especially in hard-to-reach areas from accessing assistance, while markets are frequently non-functional due to blockades, looting and repeated attacks on vendors’ supplies.8