SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Guardian - Number of people facing extreme hunger in Sudan predicted to double

25/3/2022: Guardian - Number of people facing extreme hunger in Sudan predicted to double, by Zeinab Mohammed Salih

 

The Guardian report that the number of severely hungry in Sudan could double by September 2022 to 18 million as a result of poor harvests, economic crisis, internal conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a joint statement by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

 

Food prices have steeply risen, with sugar and bread almost doubling in two weeks and a litre of gasoline increasing from 320 SDG in November 2021 to 672 SDG this March 2022.

 

A farmer in North Kordofan, which is experiencing an influx of internally displaced persons, said he lost all his sorghum plants this season because the rains did not come, leaving locals to reduce their daily meals.

 

With about 50% of Sudanese wheat coming from Russia, disruption caused by the Ukraine invasion increased prices by 180% to $550 a tonne.