Two years after the start of Sudan's catastrophic civil war, essential food prices in some parts of the country are spiraling, with tens of millions struggling to obtain basic regulations. According to the IMF, inflation rate based on average consumer prices is expected to reach 118.9% this year, following 200% last year.
In Port Sudan, a safer area in the country where many Sudanese people from elsewhere have accumulated, a kilogram of meat is currently sold for 26,000 pounds ($43). Before the war it was 12,000 SDG ($20). Finding basic products like rice, beans, sugar and more is difficult, and prices are rising sharply.
UNICEF Executive Director Katherine Russell told the UN Security Council in March that Sudan is “currently the largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world, with about 30 million people needing humanitarian assistance this year, with more than half of them being children.”
“The rise in prices, rising inflation rates, and the collapse of the market value of Sudanese currency are primarily due to paralysis of the production sector and the increased dependence of states from the mineral sector to continue operating the government and cover the costs of war.
There will be no immediate end after two years of war led by government forces led by General Abdel Fatta al-Burhan and by powerful military facts known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF), led by former vice-deputy general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. In late March, the Sudanese army achieved a major victory when it drove RSF troops from the capital Khartoum. On April 15, the foreign minister called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan, condemning both sides' attacks.
Productive areas targeting hostilities
A report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published in March 2024 showed nationwide grain production, 46% below the 2023 level and 40% below the five-year average.
Data provided by the World Vision's Price Shocks 2025 survey suggests that in Sudan, the average person needs to work for 10 basic foods, has increased by 42% from last year. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), hunger has been confirmed in more than 10 locations in Sudan. Another 17 are on the brink.
Hostilities among Sudan's war factions have indirectly destroyed the range of farmland and destroyed farmland promotion through farmland and market targeting by combatants, as a result of farmers' movement and rising prices of fuel and fertilizer.
Unstable insights reported that in Gezilla, which produced half of all wheat in Sudan earlier this year, RSF forces have been forcibly intake of crops and fertilizers on a large scale since 2023 control of the state's capital. Darfur and Kordofan state the same report, between April 15, 2023 and November 30, 2024, livestock were looted or forcibly taken away by 85 times.
At least 236 incidents affecting the market were recorded between April 2023 and November 2024. This includes 64 incidents in which the market was struck by explosive soldiers driving aircraft or drones. Most of these attacks were attributed to the Sudanese Army (SAF) in Khartoum Province. Another 40 incident markets were struck by artillery fires or other forms of fire, and those responsible were split between the SAF and RSF. Most of these attacks also occurred in Khartoum province.
Damage to the infrastructure and fuel shortages have further reduced the rest of the industrial productivity in the cities of Khartoum, Bari and Omdurman, where most of the national factories and workshops are located.
The Red Cross reported an increase in the use of drone attacks by war parties on hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure. The forestry sector is also affected.
“The Kordofan and Blue Nile sectors in particular have made a significant contribution through Arabic gum (supplying more than 70% of Sudan's supply), and are effectively shut down due to conflict. Therefore, the main export sector has been paralyzed, leading to a significant decline in foreign exchange revenue,” Elhadi says.
In this context, international and local aid groups provide essential safety nets for Sudan's population. At the London Conference in mid-April, the European Union and member states pledged $592 million to deal with the crisis, while the UK announced $158 million in aid.
However, reliance on donor funds from aid agencies makes them vulnerable to policy changes. In 2024, the United States was the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to Sudan. Some experts fear that the announcement that US President Donald Trump's 90-day aid freeze (about 80% of the USAID program will be scrapped could affect fund availability.
When the 90-day freeze on US aid was announced, aid volunteers told the BBC that more than 1,100 communal kitchens, about 80% of the total, had been closed. The BBC estimated that nearly 2 million Sudans who are struggling to survive were affected as a result. Reuters reported in March that the RSF was trying to solidify its control by imposing new restrictions on the delivery of aid.
Immigration flood continues
The harsh conditions have driven out more than 4 million Sudanese people outside the country, and many are reluctant to return home. The UN Refugee Agency said in April that more than 1,000 Sudanese refugees had arrived or tried to reach Europe in early 2025 alone.
Abduraman, a 27-year-old Sudanese English teacher who has been evacuated in Cairo since the war began, has told African businesses that many people will not be able to return.
“Some people return to Sudan and soon return to Egypt again, says Abdullaman. “Life here is a bit cheaper. You can work for your rent and your food and pay for it. Meanwhile in Sudan, you can't do it these days. Many people live on the streets.”
Despite being recently deported from Egypt due to what he said was a small delay in renewing his UN refugee card, he decided not to stay in Sudan, but to return to Cairo by smuggling the route.
“The situation is really bad, it changed dramatically,” Abduraman says. “There's too much money to rent a house over there or start my life from the start. I couldn't do that.”
Those who choose to stay face multiple challenges, including runaway inflation and job restrictions.
Abdallah, 40, a former Khartoum-based lawyer before the war began, is currently based in Port Sudan, where he saves in search of a new profession.
“I rarely find people who work in their field, especially in war zones. Some are away from remittances from overseas, while others adapt to the market with very simple jobs, such as carrying goods, selling portable drinking water, selling food, engaging in small trades,” he says.
