Norwegian Refugee Council: Conflict in Sudan turns access to food into a perilous journey

15 April 2026 (PEN) The Norwegian Refugee Council reported that the ongoing conflict in Sudan has turned access to food into a perilous journey, noting that meals reaching families in several areas pass through routes that intersect with battlefields.

The council explained that access to food depends on farmers, suppliers, traders and volunteers risking their lives, whether to feed themselves or others, amid ongoing attempts to maintain a fragile food system that is at risk of collapse.

He pointed out that the continued fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and allied groups has made the path of food from farms to markets and then to family tables fraught with danger, with serious humanitarian consequences.

The Council’s report documented the food supply route in the states of North Darfur and South Kordofan, which are experiencing armed conflict and conditions described as near famine, indicating that the journey of food from production to consumption is hindered by serious obstacles that reflect the extent of the damage that the conflict has inflicted on the country’s food system.

This comes as the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces marks three years since it began, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, the displacement of millions, and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.