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On 15 April 2023 violence erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that had agreed to share Sudan’s governance with the SAF and a civilian coalition in August 2019.
The violence soon spread widely across the country and has been especially fierce across the five states comprising the Darfur region1 and in North Kordofan state. Although an agreement was reached on 12 May committing the SAF and RSF to uphold international humanitarian law and allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance, reports suggest it has not been strictly upheld. Similarly, a ceasefire between the SAF and RSF from 22 May to 3 June had limited impact on the prevalence of violence across the country and saw its continuation in Darfur.
The violence marks the latest episode in the recurring instability that has occurred since Sudan gained its independence in 1956 and follows in the wake of an October 2021 military coup. Such political instability coupled with inconsistent rainfalls, macroeconomic shocks and price rises following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – prior to which 80% of Sudan’s wheat imports were from Ukraine and Russia – had already contributed to high levels of food insecurity prior to the current crisis. This was especially apparent in the Sudanese states of West, Central and North Darfur, where the estimated proportions of populations experiencing food insecurity ranged between 56% and 65% in 2021. The current violence seriously exacerbates this, and will be made even worse by the usual challenges presented by Sudan’s lean season between June and September, when food is typically hardest to access due to food supplies from the previous harvest becoming less plentiful or even running out. In the next two to five months continuing violence is therefore expected to push a further 2-2.5 million people in Sudan into hunger. This would result in acute food insecurity in the country reaching unprecedented levels, with over 19 million people – around two-fifths of the population – affected.