UN Official: Conflict Driving Hunger Crisis In Sudan

3/20/2024 7:08:36 PM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK, March 20 (KUNA) -- Maurizio Martina, Deputy Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), cautioned Wednesday against a "disastrous state" in some areas in Sudan due to food insecurity caused by the ongoing conflict.
Martina made a briefing before a UN Security Council session to discuss food insecurity in Sudan.
"Cereal import requirements in 2024, forecast at about 3.38 million tonnes, raise concerns about the financial and logistical capacity of the country to meet these import needs," Martina said.
"And high production costs of cereals are likely to further inflate market prices, which are already at exceptionally high levels," he said.
He added that the conflict creates a famine, restricts agricultural production, destroys main infrastructure, and impedes commercial flow and humanitarian aid.
He noted that Sudan's economy depends greatly on agriculture, which attracts 56 million people, indicating that people managed to produce food despite the conflict.
An FAO report issued Tuesday showed that cereal production last year dropped by nearly half, 46 per cent.
Meanwhile, Edem Wosornu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, cited a recent report from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which revealed that a child is dying every two hours at the Zamzam camp in El Fasher, North Darfur.
"Our humanitarian partners estimate that in the coming weeks and months, somewhere in the region of around 222,000 children could die from malnutrition," she said.
She said humanitarians have welcomed Sudan's recent announcement to again allow aid into the country through the Tine border crossing with Chad, although procedures have yet to be elaborated.
"These are positive steps, but they are far from enough in the face of looming famine," she added.
She stressed the need for crossline aid delivery within Sudan, as well as greater protection for humanitarian staff and supplies.
A high-level conference due on April 15 in Paris about Sudan and its neighbors will be a key chance to offer tangible commitments to back humanitarian aid and address suffering, she stated.
Sudan has been suffering from devastating humanitarian consequences for 11 months due to fighting erupted on April 15 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that killed more than 14.790 people.
The conflict caused the largest internally displacement crisis in the world reaching 5.6 million since the start of fighting, in addition to about 5 million others.(end)
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