The sound of gunfire forced ۵۰-year-old Aisha Adam to flee her home in the al-Kalakla neighbourhood of Khartoum days after war erupted in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April ۱۵, ۲۰۲۳.
She went to the neighbouring city of Omdurman, but fighting followed her and in May ۲۰۲۳, Adam had to find a new refuge. It brought her to a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Port Sudan, on the country’s Red Sea coast, where she lives with her orphaned grandson and nephew.
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“Amid the clashes, I left with my grandson for the bus station, intending to travel to Wad Madani in Gezira state, south of Khartoum. But I found a bus heading to Port Sudan and boarded it, even though all I knew about the city was that it was safe,” she told Al Jazeera.
The fighting between the SAF and the RSF has killed as many as ۲۰۰,۰۰۰ people, according to aid workers. The war has also displaced ۱۳ million people and led to famine in parts of the country.
After Adam was forced to move to Port Sudan, she initially stayed at a shelter for IDPs in the centre of the city. In June, she and others were relocated to a displacement centre on the outskirts of the city.
Accommodation was allocated according to household size. Adam was given a tent to share with the two children under her care, and shared a boundary with two other families.
“At the first shelter, I received some assistance from organisations, other agencies and even ordinary people. But things are different here. The aid we receive has decreased significantly, so I had to try to find work to avoid starving to death,” she said.
Adam’s struggle to feed the two children comes as Sudan faces deepening food shortages. In a joint statement released on October ۲۷, the United States Department of State warned of the deterioration in food availability and the risk of famine in the coming months.
“Sudan is experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security. The risk of famine in the coming months, as warned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, needs urgent action,” the statement said.
Fatima is experiencing the real-life consequences highlighted in the report, as finding food becomes a daily struggle. Humanitarian assistance over the past six months has been limited, and she recalls receiving aid on only three occasions. Once, she received ۵۵۰,۰۰۰ Sudanese pounds ($۵۹.۱۳) in cash. Another time, she was given ۱۲kg of flour. At the last distribution, she received personal hygiene supplies for women.
“I have no choice but to work. There is no one I can rely on. My two sons are missing, and I do not know where they are, while my other son died before the war began,” she said.
Adam leaves her accommodation early in the morning and heads to a nearby market, where she makes and sells zalabia, a traditional Sudanese fried pastry, alongside tea and coffee. Some days she makes a profit; on others, she loses money.
“I do not know how to calculate my profit. But as soon as I finish selling the zalabia, I go to buy the ingredients … for the next day: ۳kg of flour for ۲۱,۰۰۰ pounds ($۲.۲۵), ۲ litres of oil for ۲۲,۰۰۰ pounds ($۲.۳۶) and three bags of charcoal for ۹,۰۰۰ pounds ($۰.۹۷),” she told Al Jazeera.
Adam says the money left after buying these supplies is often insufficient to provide a meal for herself and the two children in her care. A kilogramme of lentils, one of the cheapest food items available to her, costs ۱۶,۰۰۰ pounds ($۱.۷۲). Meat is no longer on her shopping list, and her diet now consists mainly of lentils and rice.
“Fortunately, aid organisations have been providing water for the past five days. Before that, I used to buy ۱۸ litres for ۱,۵۰۰ pounds ($۰.۱۶). Sometimes I did not have the money and had to borrow it,” she said.
Adam says her priority is to keep her small business running. It helps her put food on the table while helping her cope with the pain of not knowing what happened to her two missing sons.
“The important thing is that we eat, even if it is only lentils and water, with nothing else. But my greatest fear is that we will fall ill, because we have no money for treatment,” she said.
Her struggle reflects the wider food crisis facing millions in Sudan. On October ۲۲, ۲۰۲۶, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that funding shortages had forced it to cut monthly food assistance to displaced people, affecting about ۹۰۰,۰۰۰ people.
Meanwhile, some ۱۹.۵ million people across the country face acute hunger, including five million experiencing emergency levels of food shortages. The risk of famine persists in several hunger hotspots, particularly in Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, the WFP says.
Esraa Mohammed, supervisor of the al-Suraiha ۸ IDP camp in al-Obeid, says displaced families are facing severe shortages of humanitarian assistance and lack even the most basic necessities.
“We have ۴۵۰ registered displaced people in the camp, in addition to ۴۰ newly arrived people who have not yet been added to the official records,” she told Al Jazeera. “Most arrive wearing torn clothes after their journeys, with nothing to protect them from the sun or rain, and without even a single meal.”
Mohammed says some organisations provide food assistance, including about ۴۰۰ml of cooking oil per person and ۲۵۰gm of peas per person. Another organisation distributes lentils, flour, oil and salt.
But these supplies are insufficient to sustain her family for a month, forcing her and other displaced Sudanese to look for casual work to make ends meet. Sometimes they find work; at other times, they go to bed without food.
“There are ۱۰۰ children in the camp, ۳۰ of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. They also urgently need clothes to protect them from harsh weather conditions and cover their small bodies,” she said.
Mohammed added that some displaced people arriving from South Kordofan had told her they were forced to eat tree leaves while fleeing their homes because they feared being killed by the RSF, following reports of civilians being murdered, detained or raped by fighters from the group.
Ahmed Ismail, an expert on the United Nations and NGOs, describes the humanitarian situation in Sudan as extremely serious, with the basic needs of the population far exceeding the support being provided.
“Sudan is facing a complex crisis involving famine, displacement, the collapse of health services, the destruction of livelihoods and serious violations against civilians,” he told Al Jazeera.
Humanitarian monitoring had indicated an increase in civilian deaths, including those linked to difficulties accessing food, healthcare and shelter, as well as casualties from attacks and violations, including drone strikes.
“When assistance declines, the most vulnerable families are deprived of food and medicine, increasing the risk of death among children, women and older people, particularly in conflict and displacement areas,” Ismail said.
Continued reductions in aid, alongside escalating violations and restrictions on humanitarian access, could turn the crisis into an even wider catastrophe, he warned.
“Denying the severity of conditions in some areas did not change the reality of the suffering experienced by civilians,” he said.
