For the first time in nearly two years of war, famine-stricken Sudan’s soup kitchens are turning people away due to a halt in U.S. aid, leaving life-saving programs in crisis.
“People will die because of these decisions,” said a Sudanese fundraising volunteer, who has been desperately trying to secure funds to feed tens of thousands in the capital, Khartoum.
Another volunteer, overseeing operations across the country, described the devastating impact of the aid freeze. “We have 40 kitchens feeding between 30,000 to 35,000 people daily,” she told AFP. “All of them have closed after Trump announced the freezing of foreign assistance and the dismantling of USAID.”
Women and children seeking food are now being turned away. “We can’t promise them when we can feed them again,” she said, requesting anonymity to protect her work.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by conflict between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 12 million people, and plunged five regions into famine, with nearly 25 million facing acute food insecurity.
In many parts of the country, community-run soup kitchens are the last line of defence against starvation, and many depend on U.S. funding.
“The impact of the decision to withdraw funding in this abrupt manner has life-ending consequences,” said Javid Abdelmoneim, a medical team leader for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Omdurman.
“This is yet another disaster for people in Sudan, already suffering the consequences of violence, hunger, a collapse of the healthcare system, and a woeful international humanitarian response,” he added.
‘People Are Dying’
Shortly after taking office last month, Trump froze U.S. foreign aid and ordered the dismantling of USAID. Although his administration later issued waivers for “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” aid workers in Sudan say they have yet to see any relief.
In what the United Nations has called a global “state of confusion,” humanitarian agencies in Sudan have been forced to suspend crucial food, shelter, and medical programs.
“All official communications have gone dark,” said a Sudanese aid coordinator, noting that USAID workers were put on leave this week.
The few soup kitchens still operating are struggling to stretch dwindling resources. “They are sharing as much as they can,” he said. “But there’s just not enough to go around.”
MSF, one of the few independent humanitarian groups still active in Sudan, has been receiving urgent requests from local responders to help fill the void. However, Abdelmoneim warned, “MSF can’t fill the gap left by the U.S. funding withdrawal.”
Last year, the United States was Sudan’s largest single donor, providing $800 million—roughly 46% of the UN’s humanitarian response plan for the country. Now, the UN estimates it has secured less than 6% of the funding needed for Sudan in 2025.
According to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, over 8 million people in Sudan are on the brink of famine. The crisis is expected to worsen, with famine projected to spread to at least five more regions by May, exacerbated by the rainy season that will make access to food even harder.
Money Running Out
The true scale of the hunger crisis is likely worse than official figures suggest. A lack of access to data has prevented an official famine declaration, including in Khartoum, according to the UN.
Now, the situation is expected to deteriorate further.
Alongside Trump’s aid cuts, the U.S.-funded early warning system for famines, FEWS Net, has gone offline, raising fears that monitoring Sudan’s worsening crisis will become more difficult.
“What’s most devastating is that so much was promised,” said the aid coordinator.
Several volunteers revealed that aid agencies had already distributed millions of dollars’ worth of food, healthcare, and shelter assistance based on U.S. funding commitments—only to see those pledges revoked when Trump halted operations.
“That means some local response is covered for now,” the coordinator said. “The fear is what’s coming next. They have money today, but what about next month? How many will go hungry then?”
Across Sudan, soup kitchen volunteers are watching their final funds dwindle, fearing the consequences once they run out.
“It was already not enough, but at least people were getting something,” the fundraising volunteer told AFP.
“Now things are going from bad to worse. People are malnourished, pregnant women are dying for lack of healthcare—there’s no semblance of life anymore.”
