Sudan conflict: Millions face starvation as war rages

Mohanad el-Balal is one of many Sudanese civilians doing everything they can to ward off a devastating famine – and there is one man whose photograph he will never forget.

Sadiq, a middle-aged father, grips the arms of his wheelchair tightly to keep himself upright, his painfully thin legs poking out in front of him.

Sadig “is in a wheelchair, but he’s not disabled” Mr Balal says: “He’s just so malnourished that he has lost the ability to walk.”

Mr Balal, based in the UK, is one of the co-founders of Khartoum Aid Kitchen, which provides food keeping tens of thousands of people alive in the Sudanese capital.

When volunteers found Sadiq, he “hadn’t had a proper meal for over a month”, Mr Balal said, because any food he could get, he was giving to his children.

Sadly, there are many people like Sadig in Sudan right now.

The country is being destroyed by a war between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which broke out in April last year.

More than nine million people have fled their homes, and everyone in the country has been affected in some way.

Things are about to get worse.

“I expect that by September, we’re looking at about 70% of the population being extremely hungry,” said Timmo Gaasbeek, a food security expert who has worked in Sudan.

“That could lead to two-and-a-half million deaths, or more. It could be as many as four million. There is just not enough food.”

He said the way that food kitchens have been distributing food is a big help but it is not enough.

“The war has paralysed the economy of the country, so people have no money,” said Amgad al-Farid, a veteran human rights activist who runs the Fikra for Studies and Development think-tank.

“Also, the RSF has taken Gezira state, which has the biggest agricultural scheme in Sudan, and produced a lot of our daily needs.

“And due to the huge inflation, food imports have declined,” Dr Farid explained.

In short, there is not enough food, and what food there is has become punishingly expensive.