The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning about the potential for a food crisis in East Africa as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict could also spark armed violence in the seven neighboring countries that share borders with Sudan.
Even before the conflict began, one-third of Sudan’s 45 million people were suffering from malnutrition. The impact of the conflict has led to rising prices and shortages of essential goods. In spite of their own food crises, South Sudan and Chad have taken in tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees in recent days.
The violence has caused WFP to suspend its emergency aid operations temporarily, which could exacerbate instability in the neighboring countries such as Egypt, Libya, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic.
Many of these countries have rival groups with links to the conflict in the Darfur region, affecting Chad and the Central African Republic. John Lechner, a Central Africa researcher, has stated that the relationship between Sudan and its neighbors is “currently very asymmetric,” implying that Khartoum’s actions could impact the surrounding countries without their control over the capital’s situation.
Wagner, a Russian mercenary group, is among the armed groups operating in the area, involved in the diamond and gold trade in Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic. The government of the Central African Republic received assistance from foreign fighters to protect the gold-rich north from armed groups, including those linked to Western Darfur. The only Russian forces in the country are unarmed trainers, but Moscow’s position could be strengthened by the conflict.
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