ROME, April 24 (Xinhua) -- With a war raging on, cereal production down by 40 percent and nearly 5 million people on the brink of famine, Sudan needs urgent support before the next planting season in June, a top official from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.
"As FAO, we do not feel Sudan has been receiving the level of attention it needs, given … the food security situation," Director of Emergencies and Resilience Rein Paulsen told Xinhua in a recent interview.
His warning came as the FAO on Wednesday unveiled its latest Global Report on Food Crises, showing that at least 281.6 million people face acute food insecurity in 2023.
This marks a 24-million increase from 2022. Meanwhile, the number of people on the brink of famine grew to over 700,000 in 2023, almost double the number in 2022.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the war in Sudan are the two factors contributing most to this escalation in hunger, the FAO said.
TIMING OF AID CRUCIAL
According to the latest assessment, nearly 18 million Sudanese people are facing acute levels of hunger and the FAO has recently appealed for 104 million U.S. dollars in aid for the country.
Paulsen -- who has recently visited Sudan to assess the situation on the ground -- stressed that the amount and timing of funds provided by donors would be equally crucial.
"Now, we have a particular time window that is important for the agricultural season," he explained. "The main cereal-planting season is in June and into July, and farmers need to prepare the land, so everything that is necessary to prepare for sorghum, millet and other key cereals needs to be done right now."
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE NEEDED
According to official data, the conflict that has been ongoing in Sudan since April 2023 is strongly limiting access to food, as well as the agricultural activities that usually provide a livelihood for two-thirds of Sudanese people.
Restoring and supporting both crops and livestock is therefore a top priority for the FAO.
"Last year, we reached just over 5 million individuals with emergency agricultural activities across 15 states. Our plan for this year is to reach 10.1 million Sudanese," said Paulsen.
Earlier this month, a European donors' conference held in Paris pledged some 2.1 billion dollars to help alleviate the crisis in Sudan. Although the pledge was welcomed by humanitarian agencies, it is not yet clear when this aid will arrive, how much will be "new funding" and how much will be allocated to agricultural needs.
Paulsen noted that, despite over 80 percent of people globally requiring aid linked to rural activities, only 4 percent of humanitarian funds will go to agriculture.
"We are concerned because we have less funding this year than in 2023, even though the food security situation is worse," Paulsen told Xinhua.
"These two dynamics are going in the wrong direction for us at the moment, so we need to keep drawing attention to emergencies in agriculture as part of the integrated famine prevention strategy." ■
