Sudan’s Peace Government Prime Minister Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi has warned that the country’s food crisis is rapidly worsening, calling for immediate United Nations intervention as drought, declining agricultural production and war-related disruption threaten millions of people.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Al Taishi said below-average and poorly distributed rainfall, combined with signs of agricultural drought, had reduced crop and pasture production across large parts of Sudan.

He warned that the deterioration posed a growing threat to communities dependent on rain-fed farming and livestock for their food and income.

The appeal coincided with alarming reports from Kordofan, where residents in En Nahud, Wad Banda, Al Khiwai and Al Muglad said some families had resorted to eating ambaz, a by-product normally used as animal feed, because they could no longer afford basic food supplies.

Al Taishi said more than three years of war had devastated agricultural production, disrupted markets and supply chains, displaced millions of people and deprived households of their livelihoods.

The conflict has also driven up the cost of food and agricultural inputs while continuing to obstruct humanitarian access to vulnerable communities.

According to the letter, approximately 19.5 million people are expected to face severe acute food insecurity during 2026. The threat of famine remains in particularly vulnerable areas, while the wider crisis could persist beyond the harvest season and into early 2027.

Al Taishi called on the UN and its specialised agencies to coordinate with the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and international partners to conduct an urgent assessment of rainfall, cultivated land and anticipated crop production across Sudan, including areas that remain difficult to reach because of insecurity.

He also urged the UN to develop an anticipatory action plan that would provide emergency funding for agriculture and livestock while pre-positioning food, medicine and therapeutic nutrition supplies in the most exposed areas.

Such supplies, he said, must be delivered before further fighting or seasonal rainfall closes roads and disrupts humanitarian operations.

The prime minister called for the expansion of operations by the World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

He said humanitarian agencies should use every available access route, including cross-border corridors and routes across front lines, to ensure assistance reaches civilians without being subjected to political considerations.

Al Taishi additionally proposed establishing a UN technical mechanism to provide early warnings and continuously monitor rainfall, agricultural production, markets, nutrition levels and disease outbreaks.

He urged international donors to provide flexible, multi-year financing that would allow Sudan to move beyond short-term emergency assistance toward prevention, recovery and the restoration of local food production.

The Kordofan Observatory said a malwa, a traditional unit of measurement, of millet was selling for approximately 35,000 Sudanese pounds in some areas. A similar quantity of ambaz reportedly cost around 10,000 pounds as desperate demand for the animal-feed product increased.

The observatory said fighting had restricted trade, obstructed humanitarian deliveries and prevented many farmers from reaching their land.

It called on the warring parties to secure commercial and humanitarian routes and refrain from using food as a means of pressuring civilians.

The group also urged authorities in Khartoum and Northern State to allow goods to move into Kordofan, while calling on the Rapid Support Forces to remove checkpoints, levies and other obstacles contributing to higher prices.

Al Taishi warned that further delays in the international response could allow a preventable food emergency to become a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe.

He said the Peace Government was prepared to cooperate with the UN and its agencies and facilitate humanitarian deliveries and field assessments in affected areas.