Sudan Governor: Commodity Transport Bans Fuel Hunger Crisis

• Sudan faces the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis, with 20 million acutely hungry and 14 million displaced.
• Human rights groups accuse the Sudanese army of imposing a systematic food blockade in Darfur and Kordofan through administrative bans and drone attacks on aid convoys.
• In late 2025, governors of Northern State and Khartoum issued emergency orders banning commodity transport to areas with Rapid Support Forces presence, imposing severe penalties including imprisonment and large fines.
• The Governor of North Kordofan also prohibited the removal of strategic goods like flour, sugar, rice, oil, and fuel from the state.
• The World Food Programme warns of potential operational scale-backs due to funding shortages, further exacerbating the crisis amidst these transport restrictions.

Broad human rights and political circles accuse the Sudanese army of imposing a systematic food blockade on the Darfur and Kordofan regions through both administrative decisions banning and confiscating goods and aerial targeting of UN relief convoys with drones.

The humanitarian situation in Sudan has reached critical levels, with the World Food Programme (WFP) warning of the "world's largest hunger and displacement crisis." Carl Skau, the WFP's Acting Executive Director, concluded an eight-day visit to the country by highlighting the dire circumstances, noting that 20 million people are currently experiencing acute hunger, while 14 million have been displaced. Skau cautioned that severe funding shortfalls could soon compel the WFP to significantly reduce its operational footprint.

In mid-September 2026, Skau characterized Sudan as a nation grappling with a confluence of conflict, widespread hunger, mass displacement, drought, and severe financial constraints. He recounted meeting individuals who had been displaced three years prior, at the war's outset in mid-April 2023, alongside those more recently uprooted, some enduring four to five days of travel to reach internally displaced persons camps. Skau also encountered women striving to reconstruct their lives, including a former university student residing in a basic hut, devoid of employment prospects, who had lost family members and whose mother suffered from depression while her father was ill. He further observed women facing daily struggles to secure water, with tanks often running dry by midday, forcing them to return home with empty containers.

The human toll of the conflict is starkly illustrated by individual stories, such as that of Fatima Ali (a pseudonym) from the Haj Youssef area, east of the Nile. Her three children have suffered from malnutrition for over two months, exacerbated by her husband's meager income, which is insufficient to provide adequate food. Ali, whose plight was reported by the Sudanese "Ayin" Network, lamented the absence of health and humanitarian services in her locality due to ongoing hostilities. She noted that community kitchens in Haj Youssef had been a vital food source for residents for 15 months since the war began, but dozens have now ceased operations due to insufficient funds, further deteriorating the health and humanitarian conditions in the area.

Against this backdrop of widespread suffering, the conflict in Sudan is increasingly characterized by the use of starvation as a deliberate tactic. The Sudanese newspaper "Ain Al-Haqiqa" reported on September 22, 2026, that the war is no longer solely waged with conventional arms like rifles and drones, but has evolved to employ hunger as a more devastating weapon. This perspective is echoed by broad human rights and political circles, which accuse the Sudanese army of implementing a systematic food blockade across the Darfur and Kordofan regions.

These accusations detail a two-pronged approach to the blockade. Firstly, an administrative blockade involves official decisions to ban and confiscate essential goods. Secondly, an aerial blockade is reportedly carried out through the targeting of United Nations relief convoys with drones. Opponents of the Sudanese army further describe the military as a front for the Muslim Brotherhood organization, adding a political dimension to the alleged humanitarian abuses.

Concrete examples of these administrative restrictions have emerged from various state authorities. On November 25, 2025, Lieutenant General Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid Ibrahim, the Governor of Northern State, issued Emergency Order No. (6) of 2025. This order, described as the most significant of its kind since the war's commencement, explicitly prohibits the transportation of goods and commodities from Northern State into areas where the Rapid Support Forces maintain a presence, specifically targeting regions in Kordofan, Darfur, and the western part of Northern State itself.

The penalties stipulated in this Northern State order are severe. Violators face imprisonment for a minimum of five years and a fine of no less than 10 million Sudanese pounds. Should the fine remain unpaid, an additional six months of imprisonment is imposed. Furthermore, the order mandates the confiscation of the goods involved, the means of transportation used, and any other items connected to the violation.

This restrictive policy was not isolated. On December 20, 2025, the Governor of Khartoum issued a similar directive, banning the movement of goods across the state's western borders. This Khartoum decision carries penalties of up to five years in prison and a fine of 12 million pounds. A third, related decision by the Governor of North Kordofan subsequently prohibited the removal of strategic commodities, including flour, sugar, rice, oil, and fuel, from that state. These measures collectively illustrate a concerted effort to control the flow of essential supplies within Sudan.

The cumulative effect of these commodity transport bans and alleged blockades is a significant exacerbation of Sudan's already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. By restricting the movement of vital goods, these orders directly contribute to the acute hunger and widespread suffering reported by organizations like the WFP. The systematic nature of these actions, as alleged by human rights and political groups, suggests a deliberate strategy that impacts millions of civilians.

The WFP's warning about potential operational scale-backs due to funding shortages takes on added urgency in this context, as access to affected populations is also severely hampered by such administrative and aerial restrictions. The inability of humanitarian aid and commercial goods to reach vulnerable communities, coupled with the closure of local initiatives like community kitchens due to lack of funds, paints a grim picture for the future of those caught in the conflict. The legal and practical implications of these governor-issued bans are profound, directly linking state-level decisions to the deepening humanitarian catastrophe.

Source: Reporting based on Sudanese media and World Food Programme statements.