Food Prices Surge in Omdurman as North Darfur Food Crisis Deepens
Food prices have climbed sharply across Omdurman, Sudan’s largest city on the western bank of the Nile opposite Khartoum, with residents reporting increases of between 20 and 25 per cent over the past month, according to Dabanga, as reported by AllAfrica. Some essential goods have risen by more than 40 per cent, local accounts relayed by the news outlet indicate, squeezing household budgets in a city that has absorbed waves of displacement since fighting spread across Khartoum state.
The price pressures come against the backdrop of a war that began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has paralysed large parts of the country’s transport network, displaced millions of farmers from their land and disrupted harvests in regions that were once described as Sudan’s breadbasket. The deterioration of the Sudanese pound on parallel markets and the steady breakdown of supply chains have compounded the strain on consumers, with bakeries across greater Khartoum periodically running short of subsidised bread.
In North Darfur state, the food crisis has deepened in parallel. Dabanga reported acute difficulties in accessing food in the localities of El Malha, Ed Debba and Mellit, where communities have been cut off from regular supply routes for extended periods. The western region of Darfur has been among the hardest hit by the war, with El Fasher, the state capital, the focus of a protracted siege and aid agencies reporting severe levels of malnutrition among children and pregnant women.
With planting seasons disrupted and transport corridors unstable, market observers and humanitarian organisations have warned that prices are likely to remain under pressure through the lean months ahead, leaving both urban and rural households increasingly dependent on external assistance to meet basic food needs.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
