The World Food Programme’s new Executive Director, Luke Lindberg, said funding cuts are deepening hunger in Sudan after he returned from his first field mission to the country. The World Food Programme, or WFP, is the United Nations emergency food agency.
According to UN News, Lindberg met families displaced by conflict who were struggling to feed their children. He visited Goz El Salam camp in Kosti. The source did not say when the mission took place or how long it lasted.
Sudan is facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, UN News said. Since civil war began in 2023, millions of people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed. Famine has become widespread.
In August, WFP was giving food aid to more than four million people in Sudan. That included 880,000 people in areas at risk of famine. Funding cuts have since forced the agency to scale back, and it now reaches just over three million people. WFP estimates that 900,000 vulnerable people have lost their food assistance.
Other problems are also slowing deliveries, according to UN News. Insecurity, blocked roads and flood damage are hampering aid as the conflict intensifies. The source did not say which donors have reduced funding or by how much.
WFP said it urgently needs $520 million to provide food and nutrition aid to 5.4 million people through April 2027. The source did not say who would provide that money.
Lindberg called for an end to the fighting and for more international support. He said people facing acute hunger have three choices: “rebel, migrate or starve.” He described WFP as the only hope for many people in Sudan.
He also tied food access to the conflict. “Peace opens the door to food while conflict opens the door to hunger,” Lindberg said. He said WFP has teams on the ground and is ready to expand its assistance if more resources arrive.