Sudan child malnutrition set to surge as pre‑harvest season begins

The three‑year war in Sudan has left roughly 19 million people facing acute food insecurity and displaced about 14 million, severely limiting access to farmland and agricultural inputs. As the lean pre‑harvest season starts, Save the Children warns that child malnutrition will worsen, with nutrition clinics in the eastern Gedaref region already treating hundreds of severe cases. In the past year the agency treated more than 1,400 children for severe acute malnutrition, with 38 deaths, and this year its clinics have already admitted around 200 children, three of whom have died.

Health services are also collapsing – roughly 37 % of health facilities across Sudan’s 18 states are non‑functional – and aid cuts have forced many centres to close. Save the Children’s Sudan Country Director Mohamed Abdiladif urged the international community to increase funding, noting that only 22 % of the $2.9 billion UN appeal for 2026 has been covered. Without additional support, the organization says thousands of children could die from hunger as the harvest delay deepens the crisis.