According to Freydoun Borhani, team leader with aid group Mercy Corps in Gedaref state, on the Ethiopian border, if fighting doesn’t stop, Sudan is in danger of experiencing a catastrophic food crisis.
For instance, in Gedaref state it is currently planting season. For planting, locals must purchase seeds. The cost of seeds increases significantly. For the farmer, this poses a problem, said Borhani.
However, according to Borhani, that is not the only difficulty farmers face.
Additionally, there is a shortage of food on the market due to the high cost of food and the large number of new residents, according to Borhani. Some people are unable to afford to buy food, she added. It has increased by 134% in some places. Rice, wheat flour, and sugar are all 100% or more.
Mercy Corps had planned to give seeds to about 2,100 farmers in the states of Gedaref, Nyala, and Kordofan, but starting next week, it will only be able to do so to 700 farmers in Gedaref due to security concerns.
As fighting continues in some areas of the capital, Khartoum, as well as elsewhere, the most recent 24-hour cease-fire, which was negotiated by the United States and Saudi Arabia, expired early on Sunday.
Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that he and other East African leaders would personally meet with the Sudanese generals the following week to discuss ways to put an end to the conflict. The announcement comes after an intergovernmental summit on development, or IGAD, which was called by the East African bloc’s IGAD in Djibouti earlier this week.
“We have decided that the quartet of Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia will meet in person with General [Abdel Fattah al-] Burhan and General [Mohamed Hamdan] Dagalo in the next 10 days so we can speak to them directly on behalf of IGAD with a view to stopping the war that is raging in Sudan,” Ruto said after the IGAD talks.
The in-person meeting with the two generals is a positive step, but there are other factors at play, according to Macharia Munene, professor of history and international relations at the United States International University in Nairobi.
The issue with IGAD and the AU [African Union] is that they are dependent on the EU [European Union] and outside forces for resources in order to function, according to Munene. “The main issue is that… Due in part to the players’ reliance on outside counsel and assistance, it can be challenging to reach consensus on anything at times.
Bringing them to the table could be the answer, but there is still much work to be done before then, said Abdisalan Adan, a peace and education advocate and the director of Maarifa College in Kenya.
“First and foremost, bridging the gap and building trust between the two [generals] and from our side, Kenya, we should see the conflict from a broader perspective,” he said. “Second, working very softly in terms of bringing all actors together, international actors together, not only IGAD, but bring on board African Union, European Union, and Americans.”
Dr. Edgar Githua, a lecturer at Strathmore University and USIU who specializes in international relations, peace, and conflict, told VOA that Kenya’s Ruto is a suitable candidate to lead the negotiations.
I believe he has observed conflict within Kenya. Remember, there was post-election violence in Kenya in 2007, and he was a member of that mediating team. As a result, he is familiar with internal conflicts; the conflict in Sudan is internal, so he is familiar with its dynamics, Githua said.
In addition, Ruto said that in the following two weeks, officials would work to persuade the warring parties to establish a humanitarian corridor and then to start the process of an inclusive national dialogue.
The Sudanese foreign ministry, however, stated in a statement on Thursday that it preferred South Sudanese leadership of the initiative.
Over 1.65 million people have been displaced since the war began about two months ago, including over 1.2 million inside the nation and roughly half a million to neighboring nations. According to Mercy Corps, populations that were already very food insecure will continue to have growing humanitarian needs as long as the conflict persists.
