{"id":20135823,"date":"2026-08-13T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20135823"},"modified":"2026-08-13T13:08:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T11:08:01","slug":"unbearable-hardship-in-sudan-displaced-people-in-kordofan-eat-animal-feed-to-avert-starvation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/unbearable-hardship-in-sudan-displaced-people-in-kordofan-eat-animal-feed-to-avert-starvation","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unbearable hardship\u2019 in Sudan \u2014 Displaced people in Kordofan eat animal feed to avert starvation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Humanitarian activist Huweida Abdelrahman Saleh has described desperate conditions in Ed Daein locality in West Kordofan, where hunger has driven some families to eat ambaz<\/em>, amid a sharp rise in grain prices. A malwa<\/em> of millet now costs SDG 20,000, while sources of income have disappeared and humanitarian aid has struggled to reach the area.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, is experiencing a severe deterioration in health and basic services, acute water shortages, and a huge influx of displaced people into shelter centres.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Raw ambaz (File photo: Sreative Commons)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ambaz<\/em>, which has become a food source for displaced people in Ed Daein, is the residue of sesame and groundnut seeds left after oil has been extracted, and is normally used as animal feed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh told Radio Dabanga that a team working on an emergency humanitarian response travelled to Ed Daein to distribute food baskets to 100 families. Instead, it was confronted by about 1,000 people in need of food, an indication of the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with the numbers, the team used its own funds to add about 50 food baskets, bringing the total to 150. Even that was not enough to meet the needs of everyone seeking help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A grim reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh said the humanitarian teams had encountered a \u201cgrim reality\u201d, with some families driven by hunger to rely on ambaz<\/em> as food because of soaring prices for maize and other grains, a lack of cash and an inability to afford basic necessities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation was particularly shocking, she said, because Ed Daein is known for its fertile agricultural land and its many farms and orchards. The spread of hunger in an area with such agricultural resources, she added, was striking.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Children in El Fasher eat a meal of ‘ambaz’ Jul 2025 (File photo: Radio Dabanga)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Saleh attributed the deterioration in food security to several factors, foremost among them the disappearance of sources of income. This had left many farmers unable to obtain seeds and other inputs needed for the agricultural season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem goes beyond the lack of seeds, she said. War and hunger have exhausted families themselves, reducing their ability to work the land even when agricultural inputs are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steep rise in crop prices has compounded the crisis. A malwa<\/em> of millet has reached about SDG 20,000. Such prices, Saleh said, had had a direct impact on people whose sources of income had disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A reality that cannot be denied\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh said it was astonishing that people in an agricultural state such as West Kordofan had reached the point of eating ambaz<\/em>. But these cases were \u201ca reality that cannot be denied\u201d, she said, because her team had witnessed and documented them during its humanitarian work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crisis is also worsening because of the difficulty of getting humanitarian assistance into West Kordofan. Aid has long struggled to reach the state, she said, and at various points in the past some parties had prevented assistance from reaching the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents had become heavily dependent on supplies and goods coming from South Sudan. But the arrival of the rainy season had closed roads and made the movement of supplies more difficult, increasing the region\u2019s isolation and reducing food availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh told Radio Dabanga that residents had become effectively trapped inside the state, without adequate sources of income or reliable livelihoods and food security, as the war continues to disrupt economic and agricultural activity and restrict the delivery of aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Radio Dabanga, she appealed to humanitarian organisations and other relevant bodies to intervene urgently to save people in West Kordofan. The population, she said, had \u201cnothing to do with either side\u201d in the conflict but had become among its worst victims, facing a lack of employment, falling production and difficulties accessing food and humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh said the scale of demand for aid had clearly exposed the widening humanitarian needs in the locality. Ed Daein has a population of about 10,000, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insecurity around El Obeid<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In North Kordofan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said insecurity around El Obeid continued to put civilians at risk and drive more people from their homes, while others were arriving in the city and surrounding areas in search of safety and assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farhan Haq, the UN deputy spokesperson, said that despite the difficult conditions, the UN and its humanitarian partners continued to provide assistance to people in El Obeid. About 2m litres of drinking water had been supplied to roughly 133,000 people amid severe water shortages in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OCHA renewed its appeal to all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and ensure that humanitarian assistance could reach everyone in need rapidly, safely, without obstruction and on a sustained basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

European and African warning over worsening crisis in El Obeid<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internationally, the European Union and African Union have warned that the humanitarian and security situation in El Obeid is deteriorating, amid intensifying attacks on civilian infrastructure and calls for an immediate halt to fighting and unimpeded humanitarian access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning came in a joint opinion article by Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, and Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah, the African Union commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development. They said Sudan was once again at a \u201cdangerous crossroads\u201d and warned against a repetition of the atrocities witnessed in El Fasher last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 605,000 people living in El Obeid and the surrounding rural areas of Sheikan locality are facing worsening humanitarian consequences from continued violence, the commissioners said. More than 563,000 civilians are inside El Obeid itself, including about 105,000 people displaced from other parts of Sudan by the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article said attacks had intensified in recent weeks, targeting petrol stations, warehouses, markets, health facilities, commercial convoys, and residential neighbourhoods. Such facilities, it stressed, are civilian infrastructure protected under international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel, water and electricity shortages deepen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deterioration has worsened shortages of fuel, water and electricity, the commissioners said, while schools, markets, shops, and humanitarian warehouses have closed in several areas, further reducing the basic services on which families depend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU and AU expressed concern over warnings that El Obeid could come under attack, potentially triggering mass displacement, and exposing civilians to serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commissioners stressed that protecting civilians \u201cis not optional\u201d. They called on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law at all times and under all circumstances, and demanded that the Rapid Support Forces halt military operations in and around El Obeid that put civilians at risk.<\/p>\n