Sudan’s historical famine echoes through latest hunger crisis
News Source
•Tue, 22 Sep 2026 17:45:55 +0000
📰 What Happened
Sudan is facing one of its worst hunger crises in modern history. War between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which started in April 2023, has wrecked farming, blocked trade and stopped aid from moving. Famines were declared in 2024 and 2025. Historians say this disaster is different from past ones because war, not drought, caused it.
🔍 The Backstory
Sudan has a long history of famine. A crisis in 1888 and 1889 may have killed over a million people, and the 1984 famine hit Darfur and Kordofan hard. This time hunger has spread to major cities and farm regions like Khartoum, Gezira and Sennar. Fighting has destroyed markets, bakeries, banks and phone networks, cutting off whole areas from help.
🎯 Why It Matters
Millions of Sudanese people are at risk of starving, and aid groups often cannot reach them. It shows how modern wars can create famine even when crops could still grow.
Sudan is facing one of its worst hunger crises in modern history. War between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which started in April 2023, has wrecked farming, blocked trade and stopped aid from moving. Famines were declared in 2024 and 2025. Historians say this disaster is different from past ones because war, not drought, caused it.
Sudan has a long history of famine. A crisis in 1888 and 1889 may have killed over a million people, and the 1984 famine hit Darfur and Kordofan hard. This time hunger has spread to major cities and farm regions like Khartoum, Gezira and Sennar. Fighting has destroyed markets, bakeries, banks and phone networks, cutting off whole areas from help.
Millions of Sudanese people are at risk of starving, and aid groups often cannot reach them. It shows how modern wars can create famine even when crops could still grow.