Impact of Armed Conflict on Food Security and Household Nutrition in Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: Armed conflict in Sudan has severely disrupted food systems, affecting food availability, affordability, and household dietary quality. Understanding household perceptions of food access and price shocks is essential for informing humanitarian and policy responses.

Objective: To assess the perceived impact of conflict-related food price increases and war-related barriers to food access on daily life and the ability to provide healthy, balanced meals, and to examine associations with key socio-demographic factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2025 among 225 adults (≥18 years) residing in conflict-affected regions of Sudan. A structured questionnaire assessed employment status, perceived food price changes, war-related food access barriers, and difficulty providing healthy meals. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square tests. Effect sizes were estimated using Cramer’s V, with statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05.

Results: Most respondents were aged 18–30 years (73.4%). Overall, 85.3% reported that the food crisis negatively affected their daily life, and 84.9% indicated that war impaired their ability to access food. A large majority (82.2%) perceived that food prices had doubled. Unemployed individuals and homemakers were significantly more likely to report daily life disruption compared to employed respondents (χ² = 29.5, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.36). Households reporting doubled food prices were more likely to experience crisis-related disruption (χ² = 58.0, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.51). Nearly 90% of respondents reported either permanent or occasional difficulty in providing healthy and balanced meals. War-related barriers to food access were strongly associated with difficulty providing adequate diets (χ² = 31.5, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.37).

Conclusions: The ongoing conflict in Sudan has profoundly compromised household food access, dietary adequacy, and economic stability. Rising food prices and livelihood vulnerability significantly intensify the impact. Urgent multisectoral interventions focusing on market stabilization, livelihood restoration, and nutrition-sensitive humanitarian responses are essential to mitigate the escalating risk of food insecurity and malnutrition.

Novelty of the study: This study provides an integrated assessment of how conflict-related food price increases and war-related barriers to food access are associated with household food insecurity in Sudan. Unlike prior studies that focus primarily on descriptive associations, this research empirically disentangles market disruption and income reduction effects, offering a clearer causal framework to inform targeted policy responses.

Keywords: Armed conflict; Food insecurity; Food prices; Household; Nutrition; Sudan; and War.