Climate pressures and displacement deepen Sudan’s rural challenges

Sudan’s pastoralists and smallholder farmers are facing mounting pressure from climate change, while displaced families in South Kordofan continue to struggle with access to water and healthcare, according to initiatives highlighted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Pastoralists have traditionally followed north-south migration routes, tracking seasonal rainfall between pastures that can be up to 500km apart. 

In a recent report published by the UNDP, they state that livestock traditionally avoid farmland during the growing season before moving into fields after harvests to feed on crop residue while fertilising and turning over the soil for the next planting season.

But “increasingly intermittent rainfall” is shortening grazing periods and forcing herders into earlier, unplanned migrations into farming areas, the UNDP says. At the same time, agricultural activity has expanded into pastoral areas through mechanisation and land privatisation, increasing resource conflicts between farmers and pastoralists, particularly during climate shocks.

Sudan is developing climate-risk management tools, including weather-index insurance for farmers and pastoralists. According to the UNDP, satellite rainfall data and local weather stations can trigger automatic payouts when predetermined dry-spell thresholds are crossed.

For pastoralists, the UNDP says, these payments can help cover “feed, water trucking and veterinary care”. Insurance products can also be linked to microfinance, while early warning and climate information services help herders decide where, when and for how long to graze.

‘Climate finance could support peace’

The UNDP describes targeting farmers and pastoralists equally as a pioneering approach with “substantial peace dividends”.

“To succeed, a comprehensive enabling environment for climate risk management has to be built,” the UNDP says, including effective climate observation infrastructure and a robust regulatory framework for climate-risk financial services.

The approach draws on lessons from the GEF-LDCF-funded Climate Risk Finance for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Rainfed Farming and Pastoral Systems project, implemented by Sudan’s Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources from 2014 to 2023 with a $5.7 million budget and UNDP support.

‘Displacement strains South Kordofan services’

In South Kordofan’s Abu Jubeiha locality, 57,880 displaced people are living across 62 locations, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), making it the second-largest hosting locality in South Kordofan after Kadugli. Local authorities estimate the actual number is higher.

Many displaced people live in the El Safa camps, where MSF says families face persistent needs for water, sanitation and healthcare.

“When you go to the camps, you see the conditions people are living in,” says Ayşe Bilge Öztürk, MSF project coordinator in Abu Jubeiha.

MSF says families live in temporary and semi-permanent shelters, including fabric tents and straw structures covered with plastic. Some tents are as small as 10 square metres, while many residents are women and children.

“The support available has not kept pace with the number of people who have arrived or the length of time they have been displaced,” Öztürk says.

‘Water brought closer’

MSF began its response in Abu Jubeiha in June 2026, making water provision in the three El Safa camps one of its first priorities.

Teams initially trucked water to the camps before drilling a borehole, extending a water network and installing a solar-powered pump. MSF also repaired latrines and provided cleaning materials.

The organisation says it has supplied more than one million litres of water since the response began.

Previously, residents had to walk at least three kilometres to collect water.

Aisha Ahmed, 37, first stayed in a school after being displaced before moving to El Safa camp. She says water was one of their most urgent needs.

“Sometimes we would go a whole week without water,” Ahmed says. “Now, after MSF drilled the borehole and extended the network, water is available 24 hours a day.”

“I am happy. Now the water is there whenever we need it,” she adds.

‘Healthcare needs grow’

MSF says its teams have expanded healthcare services after identifying further needs in the camps.

During a visit to El Safa, an MSF team encountered a mother whose daughter was suffering from severe diarrhoea and referred her to Abu Jubeiha hospital.

MSF also provided logistical support for a Ministry of Health vaccination campaign covering measles, rubella, polio and yellow fever, alongside routine vaccinations.

At Abu Jubeiha General Hospital, MSF says it is strengthening the emergency department through rehabilitation, equipment, medicines and other essential supplies.

The rainy season brings further difficulties, with MSF reporting that unpaved roads make movement and the delivery of aid and supplies harder.