WFP: Sudanese refugees face escalating hunger and malnutrition amid major food aid cuts

Millions of Sudanese who have fled Sudan to neighbouring countries as refugees risk plunging deeper into hunger and malnutrition as critical funding shortages force drastic cuts to life saving food assistance, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns in a statement on Monday. Since conflict erupted in Sudan in April 2023, more than four million people have fled to neighbouring countries in search of food, shelter and safety – with families often arriving traumatised, malnourished, and with little more than the clothes on their backs, the WFP statement says.

WFP says it quickly mobilised to provide emergency assistance to refugees escaping to seven neighbouring countries. Food and cash, hot meals, and nutrition support have been provided in the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda. The agency also expanded support to host communities who have generously welcomed refugees, despite often grappling with their own food insecurity needs.

However, continued food assistance is quickly exceeding available funding. WFP’s support to Sudanese refugees in CAR, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya may grind to a halt in the coming months as resources run dry. In Uganda, many vulnerable refugees are surviving on less than 500 calories a day – less than a quarter of daily nutritional needs – as new arrivals push refugee support systems to the breaking point. And in Chad, which hosts almost a quarter of the four million refugees who fled Sudan, food rations will be reduced in the coming months unless new contributions are received soon.

‘This is a full-blown regional crisis that’s playing out in countries that already have extreme levels of food insecurity and high levels of conflict…’
– Shaun Hughes, WFP Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis

“This is a full-blown regional crisis that’s playing out in countries that already have extreme levels of food insecurity and high levels of conflict,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP’s Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis. “Millions of people who have fled Sudan depend wholly on support from WFP, but without additional funding we will be forced to make further cuts to food assistance. This will leave vulnerable families, and particularly children, at increasingly severe risk of hunger and malnutrition.”

Children are particularly vulnerable to sustained periods of food insecurity. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates among refugee children in reception centres in Uganda and South Sudan have already breached emergency thresholds as refugees are severely malnourished even before arriving in bordering countries to receive emergency assistance.

Inside Sudan, WFP has worked to scale up assistance to reach over 4 million people per month – four times more than at the beginning of 2024. Vital support to new refugees in neighbouring countries was also expanded; in Chad, WFP quadrupled warehouse capacity and expanded food pipelines to support the influx of refugees crossing from Darfur and to sustain cross-border operations into Sudan. In Egypt and South Sudan, WFP scaled up cash assistance after the civil conflict began in 2023, enrolling eligible Sudanese families within hours of arrival to provide immediate support.

“Refugees from Sudan are fleeing for their lives and yet are being met with more hunger, despair, and limited resources on the other side of the border,” said Hughes. “Food assistance is a lifeline for vulnerable refugee families with nowhere else to turn.”

WFP is urging the international community to mobilise additional resources to sustain food and nutrition assistance for Sudan’s refugees and the host communities supporting them. WFP needs just over US$200 million to sustain its emergency response for Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries for the next 6 months. An additional $575 million is needed for life-saving operations for the most vulnerable inside Sudan.

“Ultimately, humanitarian support alone will not put an end to conflict and forced displacement –political and global diplomatic action is what’s urgently needed to end the fighting so that peace and stability can return,” said Hughes.

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Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries (source: WFP)

Central Africa Republic: WFP is supporting over 25,000 refugees and returnees who have fled the conflict in Sudan. Sudanese refugees receive full rations while CAR citizens returning due to the fighting receive a 75 percent food ration. WFP requires US$4 million to maintain support through October, and will be forced to stop all support for refugees from August unless additional funds are received.

Chad: Chad hosts one of the largest and fastest growing refugee populations in Africa with nearly 1.4 million refugees. The country is experiencing enormous pressure on already limited resources as 860,000 refugees and 274,000 returnees have arrived since the Sudan crisis began more than two years ago. Around 1,000 refugees continue to arrive daily into Chad, mostly from North Darfur, numbers similar to the high rates seen at the beginning of the Sudan crisis. WFP aims to support more than 1.2 million Sudanese refugees, returnees, and families in host communities in 2025. If no further funding is confirmed, food assistance will be reduced in the coming months. WFP needs US$77 million for its Sudanese refugee response for the next six months (June – November 2025).

Egypt: Around 1.5 million Sudanese affected by the crisis have arrived in Egypt since the conflict began two years ago, making it the largest host country for arrivals from Sudan, followed by South Sudan. In April, WFP was forced to reduce the number of Sudanese refugees, and refugees of other nationalities receiving food assistance (through cash-based transfers) from 235,000 to 200,000 people. This amounts to a 15 percent cut due to reduced funding. The amount of food refugees receive was also cut by 33 percent.

Another reduction in beneficiaries, from 200,000 to 170,000 people, followed in May 2025 – also due to funding constraints. In June, WFP had to further reduce the number of assisted beneficiaries to 150,000. If no additional funding is received, WFP will be forced to halt critical humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people in August 2025. The total funding requirements until end of 2025 are US$20 million.

Ethiopia: WFP currently supports more than 800,000 refugees with cash and in-kind food assistance at 50 percent rations: 100,000 are Sudanese refugees, of which 20,000 are new arrivals in Amhara and Benishangul Gumuz region, where they receive full rations. WFP requires $18 million to support Sudanese refugees for the next 6 months (June to November) – and a total of US$40 million to continue supporting all refugees at half rations through December.

Libya: WFP is providing monthly food assistance and nutrition support to 50,000 refugees, most of whom have fled Sudan since the start of the war in 2023. This is a fraction of the estimated 313,000 Sudanese refugees who have arrived in Libya in the last two years, a figure that UNHCR forecasts could reach 650,000 by the end of 2025. However, WFP does not have the funds to expand beyond its current caseload, and will be forced to end all assistance by the end of July without additional funding. WFP requires $5 million to continue its support from July to November 2025.

Uganda: Uganda is home to 1.9 million refugees, including 81,000 from Sudan. WFP supports over 660,000 refugees overall, down from 1.6 million supported by WFP in April with hot meals, food assistance, nutrition and livelihood programmes to boost self-reliance.  Since March, refugees classified as moderately vulnerable are receiving just 22 percent rations. WFP requires $6 million to support Sudanese refugees for the next 6 months (June to November) – and a total of US$50 million to provide all refugees with full rations through 2025.

South Sudan: WFP has assisted 1 million of the 1.16 million new arrivals to South Sudan since the conflict began, of whom 365,000 are Sudanese refugees and the remainder South Sudanese returnees. New arrivals are supported with hot meals, food and cash assistance, and nutrition support immediately after they cross the border. Influxes over the past two years have brought the total number of refugees in South Sudan to more than half a million. Funding shortfalls mean assistance to refugees is being prioritised based on vulnerability. New arrivals who continue onward to established refugee camps receive monthly food assistance at 50 percent rations due to a combination of funding shortfalls and high levels of need within the camps and host communities. WFP also provides nutrition and school meals programmes in refugee camps. WFP faces a US$71 million shortfall for the Sudan refugee response (June – November).