South Sudan: More Than One Million People Could Lose Humanitarian Aid as Resources Run Dry

In Renk, South Sudan, people from Sudan begin crossing the border before dawn. Women carry children and plastic bags; men travel with almost nothing. Each week, about 3,000 refugees and returnees cross the border into South Sudan from Sudan. Many arrive hungry, exhausted and with almost no money.

Yet the food aid they depend on is also running out. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), more than one million vulnerable people could lose access to essential food and nutrition assistance in October if additional resources cannot be mobilised.

In Malakal, one of WFP's main logistics hubs in Upper Nile state, food stocks have fallen from 10,000 tonnes at this time last year to less than 300 tonnes now. WFP said the decline comes as humanitarian agencies face shrinking resources while needs continue to rise.

WFP Assistant Executive Director Matthew Hollingworth visited Renk, Malakal in Upper Nile and Pigi county in Jonglei state this month. He saw firsthand the pressure weighing on communities already struggling with conflict, displacement, hunger and climate shocks.

Hollingworth told Al Jazeera that the war in Sudan has sent prices soaring and added further pressure to a country already stretched by the influx of refugees. He said the war in Sudan has had devastating consequences for northern South Sudan, with prices rising sharply as importing goods from Sudan has become complicated, while the flow of refugees pours into a country that is genuinely overwhelmed in its capacity to support them.

He also said Renk has seen the impact of drought alongside areas still affected by flooding. He stressed that this moment coincides with a time when the international community has fewer resources to share, and WFP no longer has the resources it once did. In addition, he said the South Sudanese government needs to address illegal checkpoints that obstruct access to many areas, while the need to reach vulnerable people across the country remains enormous.

Peter Maker, a displaced person in Pigi, said insecurity and the arrival of people from other areas have made farming or finding work difficult. He told Al Jazeera that they face major challenges from national insecurity and the influx of people from elsewhere; the main problem is insecurity and the lack of access to farmland. Although he is healthy and able to work, insecurity prevents him from moving around to find opportunities or farm safely outside, leaving them heavily dependent on the United Nations and aid.

Maker said long-term solutions are needed and warned that cutting or further blocking aid would have serious consequences. He said much of the local suffering stems from political leadership and divisions between communities, adding that people currently live by sharing resources, trusting in God and receiving irregular assistance.

A border under pressure

Renk, in Upper Nile state near the border with Sudan, has become the main entry point for those fleeing the war that erupted in Sudan in April 2023. According to WFP, more than 1.4 million refugees and returnees have crossed into South Sudan since the war broke out in Sudan in 2023. Many arrive after journeys marked by checkpoints, extortion and violence, with very little information about what awaits them.

Zainab Musa, a mother of six staying at the transit centre in Renk, has just crossed from Sudan. She said conditions are very difficult and there is very little food. She told Al Jazeera that the humanitarian situation is very hard, there is nothing to eat, only hunger; she thought of leaving the border at Jodha for the transit centre to seek help. Musa said she plans to go to her grandfather in Bunj, in Maban county, Upper Nile state.

The transit centres in Renk were not designed to cope with the scale of arrivals now being seen. Families wait to be moved on to Malakal or other parts of South Sudan, while some stay for months.

WFP has been forced to reduce rations and cut support as funding runs out. In August, WFP and the UN refugee agency UNHCR warned that more than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers were at risk of losing food assistance. The two agencies said food and nutrition assistance for 240,000 of the most vulnerable refugees was expected to run out in September without additional funding.

Nura Mohammed Ahmed, a Sudanese refugee, said hunger and the lack of adequate nutrition have had a severe impact at the transit centre.

Fragile shelter in Malakal

Malakal has taken in families displaced by conflict and natural disasters for years. The area once known as the Protection of Civilians site, renamed as a settlement for internally displaced people earlier this year, now holds nearly 40,000 displaced people from more than 6,000 households. Many have been displaced for years.

Basic services are also under pressure. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that water, sanitation and hygiene services in Bentiu and Malakal are at risk of being affected by funding shortfalls. Without drainage pumping and dike maintenance, Malakal also faces a higher risk of flooding during the rainy season.

Najah al-Tayieb al-Fadhul, a Sudanese refugee and mother of four, arrived at the transit centre in December 2023 after her husband was killed. She told Al Jazeera that her husband was killed in front of her by Sudanese armed forces, and she could not stay there with her children because the situation was traumatic. She said she entered South Sudan and tried her best to get by, taking small jobs with humanitarian organisations in Renk.

Al-Fadhul said hunger, disease and malnutrition are part of daily life. She said there are many cases of hunger, illness and malnutrition among children; even her son has a heart condition but she cannot afford treatment.

She said she sometimes earns about $2.50 a day from work at the market, but struggles to find steady work despite having a university degree. She said the humanitarian situation is getting worse even though she has a job with one of the organisations; WFP only supports people here with small rations, especially for children, while older people and most individuals lack the energy to work because of hunger.

A funding gap

WFP said it faces an immediate funding gap of $86 million and a shortfall of $416 million over the next six months, threatening its ability to support refugees, displaced people and vulnerable host communities.

For the population as a whole, the hunger crisis is already severe. WFP said 7.8 million people, more than half of South Sudan's population, face high levels of acute food insecurity, while 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished. WFP's current emergency response programme in South Sudan also records a funding shortfall of $258 million for the rest of 2026.

For those arriving from Sudan, the crisis continues after they cross the border. Nura Mohammed Ahmed described bluntly the choice some refugees face: many people have died here from hunger and lack of nutrition; there is nothing, or food that could give them strength. The only solution is to return to Sudan, engulfed in war, despite the risks, or die here of hunger.