Sudan fuel shortage raises cost of famine relief

Fuel shortage slows food and medicine deliveries

Fuel stations in Khartoum were closing for lack of petrol and diesel in mid-September 2026, and no report since then shows the shortage has ended. Trucks carry food and medicine to displaced families, and diesel pumps water onto farmland. Without fuel, both stop.

In a country split between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a weak currency makes imported fuel costly, and the shortage slows deliveries to people who already have little. Relief depends on international donors, so every shortage raises the cost of any relief effort.

Scarce fuel raises the cost of each delivery and may mean fewer people are fed. It is still unknown how much fuel Sudan has in stock, when new shipments will reach Port Sudan, or what share of aid deliveries the shortage has stopped.

Two trucks hired by the World Food Programme (WFP) came under fire on 2 and 3 October 2026, and at least one person died. As of 8 October, less than half of the humanitarian appeal for Sudan was funded, the Rio Times reported.

Famine monitor names Darfur and Kordofan

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a hunger monitor backed by the United Nations, warned on Monday 12 October 2026 that famine risk is growing in Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan. It said a severe drought linked to El Niño now covers more than half of the country. In North Darfur, 64% of cropland shows poor plant growth.

From February to May 2026 the IPC counted nearly 19.5 million people, more than 40% of Sudan's population, in acute food insecurity, including 135,000 in Phase 5, the most severe level. In a joint statement, 32 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany cited IPC assessments and put the figure at around 41% of the population, saying nearly 5 million are living at emergency level. The signatories warned that without urgent intervention the number of children with severe acute malnutrition could exceed 825,000 during 2026.

The IPC has previously warned that famine conditions could emerge or worsen in parts of North Darfur, South Darfur and South Kordofan if humanitarian access stays limited and the fighting continues. Farmers in many parts of the country have been unable to cultivate or harvest because of the fighting, and prolonged drought has cut output further, the joint statement said.

Convoys attacked and access obstructed

On 3 September 2026, the Sudan Doctors Network said the RSF attacked a UN humanitarian aid convoy in Dilling as it travelled to Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan. One person was killed and two truck drivers were injured. The convoy was carrying assistance for more than 5,000 civilians short of food and medicine.

The group called the attack part of a recurring pattern of RSF strikes on aid convoys and obstruction of assistance, and said such attacks violate international humanitarian law. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned of extremely dangerous conditions in Kadugli and Dilling, citing disrupted aid deliveries and attacks on relief convoys.

The UN Security Council condemned attacks attributed to the RSF and violations against civilians, calling for accountability and an immediate halt to hostilities. The UN also said 1,100 civilians were killed in drone attacks across Sudan between January and June 2026, Anadolu Agency reported.

The SAF obstructs aid too. Brookings describes Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission as a "hidden wall" that creates bureaucratic run-arounds. The army has denied access on claims of sovereignty, tried to obstruct famine research and refused visas for humanitarian workers. In some areas the commission has tried to control the Emergency Relief Rooms, a grassroots network that runs soup kitchens, while cells linked to SAF intelligence and SAF-aligned Islamist militias have menaced, detained and killed its activists. The SAF has been sanctioned for the use of chemical weapons and strikes civilian marketplaces, the analysis adds.

In North Darfur, the RSF took el-Fasher in October 2025. Brookings reported that fighters then killed or abducted 460 health workers, patients and others at the city's last functioning hospital. The RSF still blocks humanitarian assistance to residents who remain. Two days after the city fell, authorities in Port Sudan ordered the expulsion of two senior WFP officials.

Khartoum rejects famine warnings

Sudan's Foreign Ministry rejects the international assessments. It says strategic food reserves and ongoing agricultural activity are sufficient to meet domestic needs.

The ministry acknowledged that the war had led to the looting of strategic food stocks and damage to infrastructure, but argued that the country had avoided famine despite those challenges. It pledged to keep facilitating aid deliveries throughout Sudan, including areas controlled by the RSF, while saying assistance must not be exploited to finance or strengthen the armed group. It also argued that proposals for a humanitarian ceasefire could allow the RSF to regroup and reinforce its positions.

The 32 countries asked for unrestricted humanitarian access across frontlines and border crossings and for more funding for relief operations.