Khartoum (AFP) – Nearly three and a half years into Sudan’s unrelenting war, soaring costs and a nosediving currency have left people like Sawsan Mahmoud struggling to afford even the most basic staple — bread. Most bakeries in the capital Khartoum have shut their doors because of surging wheat prices and fuel shortages. Mahmoud, 44, says she and her husband now spend their combined salaries on bread alone.
“The situation has become unbearable,” the mother of three said. “We’ve reduced the amount of bread we eat and now only have it with one meal a day.” “We have to set aside 900,000 pounds ($88) a month to buy it. That’s almost my salary and my husband’s combined.” The price of a loaf in Khartoum has doubled from 250 to 500 Sudanese pounds over the past week. International organisations have been sounding the alarm over the possible spread of famine, already declared in parts of the country, while around 20 million people suffer from severe food insecurity.
In one of the few bakeries still operating in the capital, Abir Mohammed complained that “we used to eat bread with all our daily meals; now we can’t do that.” Sudan imports most of its wheat, making prices vulnerable to the deterioration of the local currency. Over the past month, the Sudanese pound has lost about 25 percent of its value against the dollar, hitting a record low of more than 10,500 pounds to the dollar before recovering slightly to around 10,200 on Wednesday. The dollar was worth 500 Sudanese pounds in 2023, when the war broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army.
– ‘No flour’ – Inside Mohammed al-Fateh’s bakery in Khartoum, workers mixed flour, water and yeast into a thick dough, which they divided into round discs and slid into the oven on long wooden paddles. Within minutes, the dough turns into the traditional flatbread that forms an essential part of Sudanese meals. “Many bakeries have closed because there is no flour in the market,” Fateh said, adding: “You can spend a whole day or two at the distribution centre and still come back empty-handed.” In Khartoum’s southern Al-Azhari neighbourhood, Mutawakil Ahmed Babiker is struggling to keep his bakery afloat after the price of flour doubled.
He also pointed to “power cuts that have forced us to buy fuel for the generator.” “Most likely I will close the bakery,” he said. “We sell a loaf of bread for 500 pounds, which is less than its cost, but I can’t raise the price because of people’s circumstances.” Khartoum and parts of eastern Sudan are suffering widespread power outages after repeated drone attacks on power stations. Across the capital, Sudanese have returned to lining up outside public kitchens, waiting for free meals. Many of these kitchens had stopped operating when the army retook control of the capital and expelled the RSF in March 2025.
The Ombada Emergency Room in Omdurman, which coordinates community kitchens in the area, has warned that “the circle of need is expanding to include thousands of families and displaced people.” It cautioned of “a shortage of food supplies and soaring prices, making access to even a single daily meal a dream.” Poverty rates in Sudan have soared to 80 percent, according to data from the central bureau of statistics, while inflation registered an astounding 99 percent last year.
– ‘No fuel’ – Outside Khartoum, most wheat supplies arrive in the form of aid, but fuel shortages and spiralling prices, along with road closures due to the fighting, prevent deliveries. The war has divided the country into rival zones of influence: the army holds Khartoum and central and eastern Sudan, while the RSF controls the vast Darfur region in the west and parts of the south. More than 200,000 people in South Kordofan and North Darfur states are experiencing famine, according to UN-backed reports that also warn it could spread to eight cities by 2027.
The falling currency has further weakened the government’s ability to buy fuel, most of which the country imports. Speaking to AFP from his car outside a petrol station, civil servant Yasser Mohammed said: “I’ve been here since six in the morning.” By 4:00 pm, he said he still had not obtained any petrol and had missed a day of work. In an Omdurman market, where business was slow, Al-Muradi Awad complained of poor living conditions as he shopped for groceries. “The nutritional value of each meal has declined,” Awad said. “The price of a kilogram of meat ranges between 50,000 and 70,000 pounds. If you could previously afford to buy two kilograms of meat, today you will buy 125 grams.”
© 2024 AFP
