The looming onset of the rainy season, coupled with a severe shortfall in funding, threatens to unravel recent progress made by the World Food Programme (WFP) in reaching parts of Sudan previously cut off by conflict. In areas such as Tawila, a town in North Darfur that has recently become accessible following intense fighting, humanitarian operations remain fragile and at risk of reversal.

On Thursday, the WFP is expected to release a video documenting its operations in Tawila, where families displaced from cities such as El Fasher are beginning to receive food assistance. The footage is also set to highlight ongoing efforts to screen children for malnutrition—an increasingly urgent task as supplies remain limited and nutritional needs continue to rise. Even with severely reduced rations, WFP deliveries mark a crucial lifeline for communities that have been beyond the reach of aid for months.

The scale of Sudan’s hunger crisis is staggering. According to the WFP, approximately half of the country’s population—some 25 million people—are now facing extreme levels of food insecurity. Among them, nearly five million children and mothers are suffering from acute malnutrition, a condition that threatens not only lives but also long-term development prospects.

By March, the WFP had managed to reach four million people, its highest monthly total to date. Yet the agency warns that this momentum may be short-lived unless additional funding is secured. It estimates that nearly $1 billion is required to meet its target of assisting seven million people by the end of the year. Without it, both operational capacity and humanitarian reach will be sharply curtailed—just as the rainy season is expected to make vast swathes of the country inaccessible once again.

The situation in Sudan is a stark reminder of the compounding impact of conflict, climate, and constrained humanitarian access. With the global spotlight often shifting elsewhere, aid agencies are left to confront a deepening crisis with dwindling resources.

Al Jazeera.