Aid officials gathered in Berlin for a conference on Sudan on Tuesday warned that the war in Iran and the wider Middle East has put even greater pressure on food and fuel supplies, three years into the African country’s civil war.
Food and fuel prices are rising rapidly, and the country is also dependent on the Gulf region for fertilizer deliveries, posing a long-term threat to crops.
Nearly 19 million people in Sudan are already at risk of severe hunger due to the raging internal conflict, which has displaced more than 11 million people and effectively divided the country in two.
How is the conflict in the Middle East affecting war-torn Sudan?
Senior official of the German Food Aid Organization Welthungerhilfe And the UN World Food Program (WFP) told reporters in Berlin that Iran was facing “dramatic consequences” for the cost of various essential commodities.
“Our teams in Sudan are reporting massive price increases,” said Matthias Moge, head of Welthungerhilfe. “Fuel has become costlier by 80%, and basic food items like wheat have become costlier by almost 70%.”
Moge said the cost of delivering aid has also risen sharply, reducing the number of deliveries possible for groups like his.
WFP deputy chief Karl Skau warned that all of Sudan’s diesel comes from the Gulf region, with deliveries currently severely disrupted due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I’m also concerned about the long-term impact here, because all the fertilizer in the country comes from the Persian Gulf… and even there is a lack of access to that fertilizer,” Skau said.
Furthermore, much of Sudanese agriculture depends on irrigation using water pumped from the Nile River, a process that requires fuel.
“So I’m also concerned about the production side here, and what that will mean for access to food in the future,” Skau said. “So this war in the Middle East is affecting us everywhere, but in a place like Sudan, it’s having really dramatic consequences.”
What role are drones playing in the conflict?
Hundreds of civilians have been reported killed in drone strikes in Sudan since January, the United Nations said in Geneva on Tuesday.
“In the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were killed in drone strikes,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief.
Drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence in the country with both sides using the technology. They are particularly common in the disputed South Kordofan region, which is currently the primary battlefield of the war, and in areas controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), such as Darfur in the west.
The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) said drones were responsible for “about 80 percent” of at least 245 children killed or injured during the first three months of the year.
“Drones are killing and injuring girls and boys in their homes, in markets, on the streets, near schools and health facilities,” said Eva Hinds, UNICEF spokesperson in Sudan.
Reinforcing this long-term data, the group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Tuesday reported two deaths and 56 injuries from five drone strikes carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the Darfur region.
“As Sudan enters its fourth year of war, these attacks by Sudanese armed forces demonstrate a complete disregard for civilian life,” the Geneva-based medical charity said in a statement. “We call on the warring parties in Sudan to protect civilians.”
What is the situation in Sudan after three years of war?
An uneasy alliance between the Sudanese army and RSF militias broke down completely in 2023, leading to open war by 15 April of the same year.
The RSF’s roots can be found in the Janjaweed militia responsible for atrocities targeting non-Arab communities in Darfur two decades ago, with observers alleging the group is planning ethnic cleansing of groups such as the Fur and Zaghawa people.
It now controls much of southern and western Sudan, while the country’s army, which seized full control of the capital Khartoum in March 2025, controls much of the north and east.
Fighters from both sides have been accused of war crimes and attacking non-combatants.
The RSF has established a parallel administration based in Nyala, leaving the country in a de facto state of partition.
About 19 million people are believed to be facing severe hunger, particularly in conflict zones further inland, and more than 11 million are displaced internally or across borders.
The United Nations has warned that donors have provided only 16% of the money needed for aid projects in Sudan this year.
Closing that gap will perhaps be the most important goal of Wednesday’s conference in Berlin, on the third anniversary of the war’s outbreak. France, Germany, Britain, America, European Union and African Union jointly organized this event.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru