Sudan’s Darfur faces driest rainy season in four decades, says WFP

KHARTOUM: Sudan's Darfur region is facing its driest rainy season since the 1980s, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), as climate change exacerbates famine conditions amid a brutal civil war. The WFP deputy chief, Carl Skau, reported that drought dominates conversations throughout the region during the June-to-September rainy season. Skau expressed concern over the severe impact on agriculture, stating that everyone he met was worried about the consequences.

Darfur, already devastated by decades of conflict, has experienced some of the worst violence during the ongoing war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in 2023, leaving over 200,000 dead. The region is home to 5.6 million displaced individuals, many of whom are grappling with severe hunger. Typically, the rainy season brings life back to the region as valleys and seasonal rivers overflow, nourishing farmland essential for preventing starvation.

However, this year marks the driest rainy season on record, as documented by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

Local responders across Darfur have warned that the drought is triggering fresh waves of displacement and the breakdown of local agriculture. The Emergency Response Room in North Darfur's Kutum region highlighted the mounting crisis faced by livestock and livelihoods due to scarce rainfall and insufficient water and pasture. Even prior to the war, Darfur frequently witnessed deadly violence between rival groups over water sources.

A reduction in rainfall across Sudan and eastern Africa, linked to the El Nino climate pattern, has also reduced water levels in the Nile River, jeopardizing the ongoing planting season and threatening food security while nearly 20 million people face crisis levels of hunger.