section_path: Humanitarian impact/Famine
section_name: Famine
paragraph_text: Famine
  
  Nearly 25 million people, half of Sudan's population, face extreme famine, according to the World Food Program, in April 2025.
  
  On 1 August 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) concluded that IPC Phase 5 famine conditions are prevalent and ongoing in parts of North Darfur, including the Zamzam camp south of El Fashe and that there was a high risk of similar conditions throughout internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
  
  In late January 2025, the new administration of US President Donald Trump froze foreign aid for 90 days with waivers supposed to be available for urgent and life-saving aid. However, the waiver process has been slow to get rolling.
  
  By February 2025, famine had taken hold in at least five regions, with over 600,000 people at risk of starvation. The World Food Programme reported that 80% of emergency food kitchens had shut down due to U.S. aid cuts. In North Darfur, MSF and WFP suspended operations at Zamzam camp, which houses around 500,000 people. Cholera outbreaks have surged due to the collapse of Sudan's healthcare infrastructure.
  
  Sudanese factions were accused of using famine as a weapon of war, by attacking the country's most fertile states, displacing farmers, preventing humanitarian assisting and arresting volunteers. Both parties have also imposed food and aid sieges on areas they do not control. Observers call for the establishment of safe aid distribution zones, that rely on local initiatives, as well as accountability for perpetrators.