The Weaponizationโข of Hunger: Famine in Sudan andโ Beyond
In Augustโข 2025, an IPC analysisโฃ confirmed โthe existence of famine in parts โof Gaza, with over half aโ million people facing conditions of extreme hunger. This crisis unfolds alongside โขa deepening famine in Sudan, a situation exacerbatedโฃ by global events and a stark imbalance of power that increasingly demonstratesโข the deliberate โฃuse of starvation asโข a weapon.
The situation โขin Sudan is particularlyโ impacted by Russia‘s actions regardingโฃ Ukrainian grain exports. Following the full-scaleโข invasion of Ukraine in Februaryโ 2022, Russia โblockaded Ukrainian Black Sea ports, later withdrawing from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative โคand โsubsequently targetingโฃ ports and Danube terminals.โค This disruption aimed to restrict the flow of millions of tonnes of grain to world markets, driving up prices andโ severely โimpactingโ African โimporters like Sudan.early 2024 saw 7,600 โtonnes of Ukrainian โคwheat flour – enough to feed approximately one millionโฃ peopleโค for aโ month – arriveโ at Portโ Sudanโฃ through initiatives like “Grain From Ukraine,”โ but the ongoing Russian naval threat continues to jeopardize these vital supplies.
Beyond blocking exports, Russia’s warโ has directly damagedโ Ukraine’s agriculturalโ infrastructure.โ โค Missiles, mines, โand occupation have devastated farmland, silos, and theโฃ power grid, enabling the systematic theft โof grain from โขoccupiedโ areas and crippling โฃUkraine’sโ ability โto feedโค both its own population and โthe โwider world. This echoes a dark historical precedent: the โขHolodomor, Stalin’s engineered famine in Ukraine between 1932-33, which involved seizing grain, sealing borders, and exporting food while Ukrainians starved. The current Kremlin, while employing different tactics, operates under โฃa similar โขlogic – turning โfood into a โฃtool of control. The outcome isโ that Sudanese families are now experiencing the repercussions of โdecisions made in moscow, mirroring the suffering endured โby Ukrainian villagers under Stalin and, presently, under Putin.
This unfolding โtragedy occurs within a contextโฃ of extreme global inequality. Oxfam’s 2024โข report reveals that billionaire โขwealth increased by roughly $2 trillion in 2024 alone – three times faster than the previous year – while globalโ poverty has โคremained largely stagnant โฃsince 1990. A small number of states and corporations maintainโ control โover critical resources like grain, fertilizer, shipping, and insurance.
In a โworld of such abundance, famine in Sudan is not an inevitability, but a damning indictment of a system that prioritizes profit over human life.โฃ This system allows for the useโ of blockades, sieges, and the deliberate destruction of farms to push populationsโฃ towards starvation, effectivelyโ choosing a side in the struggle for survival. Whether Sudan’s famine โbecomesโค another preventableโ tragedy,or aโ turning point where engineered hunger โis finally deemed intolerable,hinges onโ theโ willingness โof wealthier,safer nations to intervene and โขprevent further suffering – not just in โคSudan,but possibly in Gaza and Ukraine โขas well.