How funders can address the growing famine in Sudan

One in three people worldwide (2.83 billion people) cannot afford a healthy diet. Hunger affects everything in a person’s life: physical health, mental health and cognitive development.

Hunger and famine are preventable. Global food production is high enough to feed everyone on the planet, but hunger continues due to unequal distribution of food and conflict. At least 85% of people experiencing hunger live in conflict-affected countries.

Goal 2 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is Zero Hunger, which is defined as: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” However, the targets of this goal are not being achieved, and in many cases, the situation is getting worse. More people need nutritional support and suffer from food insecurity than ever before.

Famines are the extreme outcome of persistent food deprivation. On Aug. 1, 2024, famine was declared in Sudan at Zamzam, one of the camps for internally displaced people, home to a million people. CDP’s Sudan Humanitarian Crisis Fund focuses on supporting mutual aid groups and emergency response rooms (ERRs) in the country, which are working hard to address the hunger crisis. Now that USAID funding has been halted, most ERRs have had to shut down their feeding programs, including all 40 community kitchens in Zamzam camp. The crisis is growing.

CDP hosted a webinar to discuss the systemic causes of hunger and the differences between famine and hunger. Speakers also explored why hunger and famine are preventable disasters.

CDP’s Program Officer, International Funds, Tracy O’Heir, moderated the discussion with the following panelists:

• Shaun Hughes, Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis Response
  World Food Programme
• Federico Motka, Head of Emergencies and Humanitarian, Vitol Foundation
• Musab Swareldhab Saty, Humanitarian Response Coordinator, Adeela

This webinar was co-sponsored by Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, PEAK Grantmaking, Alliance Magazine, United Philanthropy Forum and Giving Compass.

Please see the slide deck and watch the webinar recording to learn more:

Resources mentioned during the webinar

Photo: Through a project funded by a CDP grant to NEXUS Consortium, Somalia, farmers received tractor-tilling services to save time and help them reclaim abandoned land. Photo courtesy of NEXUS Consortium, Somalia.