Sudan’s Agriculture Minister, Abubakr al-Bushra, has dismissed claims of famine in the country and questioned U.N.-backed reports indicating that 755,000 people are experiencing catastrophic hunger. He rejected the notion of aid agencies bypassing government restrictions to deliver aid across borders.
Sudan has become the epicenter of the world’s worst hunger crisis since the outbreak of a war between the Sudanese army, led by the country’s head of state, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which control large parts of the country.
“755,000 citizens are not a significant percentage compared to the total population… they cannot call that famine,” said al-Bushra at a news conference in Port Sudan, the country’s de facto capital. Sudan has a population of 50 million.
The army has restricted aid and commercial supplies from entering RSF-controlled areas. Supplies that do reach these areas are often expensive and subject to theft, frequently by RSF soldiers, according to residents and aid agencies.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative involving U.N. agencies, regional bodies, and aid groups, reported in late June that while half of Sudan’s population is experiencing acute hunger, 14 areas are at risk of famine. Famine can be declared if at least 20% of the population in an area suffers from catastrophic hunger, along with meeting thresholds for child malnutrition and starvation deaths.
Al-Bushra questioned the accuracy of data collection in RSF-controlled regions and claimed that malnutrition indicators had not been confirmed. An independent committee, following IPC data, could potentially declare a famine, leading to Security Council interventions to override military restrictions on aid deliveries.
The minister firmly rejected any such intervention. “We reject the opening of our borders by force because that could open the borders with opposing states, borders that the militia controls,” he said, while another official suggested such moves are part of a conspiracy against Sudan.
Aid agencies report that al-Tina, the only government-authorized crossing into the famine-risk Darfur region, is inaccessible due to rains. The army has blocked access to the Adre crossing into West Darfur, which aid agencies are seeking to use, claiming it has been used to supply the RSF with weapons.
