Supporting conflict-resilient food systems in Sudan

After 18 months of conflict in Sudan, famine has been confirmed in North Darfur while over 14 other areas are at high risk of famine. Meanwhile, more than half of the country’s population – 25.6 million people – are facing crisis levels of hunger.

With the aid sector scaling up its response, those designing, funding and implementing food security programmes must ensure they contribute to conflict-resilient food systems in Sudan. This is not only essential to avoid feeding into underlying drivers of inequality and conflict rooted in Sudan’s agricultural system but to also reduce humanitarian needs in the long-run.

In this context, the Conflict Sensitivity Facility (CSF) in Sudan is launching  Supporting conflict-resilient food systems in Sudan. Written by Soilwatch and developed with the support of USAID TEPS and the European Commission, the paper unpacks Sudan’s food systems, explains how they have been impacted by the conflict and sets out how they can be supported in a conflict-sensitive way going forward.

The paper also offers a series of recommendations for donors and aid actors, highlighting that the famine response and support for food production must:

1. Prioritise localised and decentralised systems and producers to improve conflict and environmental resilience and build productivity sustainably.
2. Address all food production systems in Sudan, recognising that each presents unique conflict-sensitivity challenges and opportunities that can either drive conflict or help communities thrive. Pastoralism has too often been neglected by the aid sector, which is detrimental to both food security and peacebuilding efforts.
3. Understand that rapidly scaling up food production is both crucial and risky as conflict actors may be well positioned to benefit from these efforts.This requires a careful assessment of trade-offs and a commitment to strong, principled guidelines, and highly contextualised analysis.
4. Acknowledge that land is a long-running driver of conflict in Sudan. Immediate actions on food security should be paired with long-term strategies for land reform and natural resource management.

Read the entire report here: Supporting conflict-resilient food systems in Sudan.