By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Kenya, December 13 2025 - As violent conflict grinds on in Sudan, the world’s largest food assistance provider is being forced to cut rations, underscoring a stark reality: global humanitarian funding is drying up even as crises deepen in multiple hotspots across Africa and beyond.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that beginning in January 2026, it will have to reduce food rations in Sudan for communities facing famine to 70% of standard allocations, and to 50% for those at risk of famine due to severe funding shortages.
The cuts come amid one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in memory, sparked by an 18- month conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in regions such as Darfur.
“We will be having to reduce from January to 70% rations for communities that are facing famine, and **50% for those at risk of famine,” WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva, warning that funding could fall “off a cliff” soon.
A Global Aid System Stretched to the Limit
Just days earlier, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) revealed it has reduced its 2026 humanitarian aid appeal by 400 million Swiss francs, seeking 3.4 billion Swiss francs (about $4.27 billion) compared to 3.8 billion Swiss francs the year before, despite escalating global needs.
IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain stressed that although crises and operational challenges have grown, funding from key donors such as the United States and Germany continues to shrink.
Chapagain said that while IFRC would continue to prioritise locally led aid and the protection of humanitarian workers, funding constraints have forced difficult decisions, including halting involvement with operations such as the migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking.
Both announcements point to a harsh new reality: the system of global humanitarian support that has sustained millions through decades of conflict, displacement, climate disasters and pandemics is now contracting at a moment when need is surging.
The Human Cost: Sudan and Beyond
In Sudan, millions are already in dire straits. Years of conflict have uprooted communities, collapsed markets, and erased crops. WFP reports that without at least $700 million in funding, it cannot sustain assistance across the next six months.
In areas of Darfur where famine conditions have been confirmed, aid workers warn that even the trimmed rations may not be adequate to prevent extreme malnutrition.
This comes as towns like Tawila host hundreds of thousands of displaced people, many living in makeshift shelters with limited access to healthcare or clean water. Conflict-driven displacement has also spilled over into neighbouring countries, creating a regional hunger emergency.
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A June 2025 WFP report warned that refugees fleeing Sudan face escalating deprivation, with some surviving on a fraction of daily recommended calories and food support set to shrink further absent urgent funding.
Funding Crunch: A Global Pattern, With Regional Effects
The Sudan and IFRC funding crises reflect a broader pattern affecting humanitarian operations worldwide: A WFP report titled “A Lifeline at Risk” warned that funding shortages could push 13.7 million people from crisis food insecurity to emergency levels if assistance is reduced further, a result of steep funding drops from major donors.
Across Africa and globally, pipeline breaks and ration reductions are affecting countries from South Sudan and Somalia to Afghanistan and Haiti, highlighting the profound scale of need versus shrinking support.
Operations that once provided full rations and vital nutrition services now face cuts of 30–50% or more unless new funds arrive quickly. Humanitarian advocates warn that such ration cuts do more than reduce calories available to hungry families; they undermine long-term resilience, child development, and the ability of host communities to absorb new refugees and displaced people.
What This Means for Kenya and neighboring countries While Kenya currently avoids the raging famine affecting Sudan, the pressures of a global funding downturn are already being felt domestically: A WFP notice from earlier in 2025 showed that food assistance for refugees in Kenya, including camps at Kakuma and Dadaab, had been repeatedly reduced due to funding limits, affecting over 720,000 refugees and forcing cuts to essential nutrition programming.
With shrinking global donor budgets and mounting crises in regions like Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan and the Sahel, funds that might have been allocated to host countries like Kenya are increasingly redirected to “highest priority” emergencies.
Kenya’s unique role as a host nation, sheltering refugees from Somalia, South Sudan and now Sudan, places it directly in the crosshairs of this larger humanitarian funding squeeze.
A Call for Urgent Action
Both the IFRC and WFP emphasise that cuts are not choices made lightly, but necessary responses to prolonged donor fatigue and shifting geopolitical priorities.
With more than a third of the world’s humanitarian needs unmet, and global appeals reaching their lowest levels in over a decade, aid agencies are warning of cascading consequences.
The message is clear: needs are rising at a time when resources are shrinking, and without rapid, sustained reinvestment in humanitarian aid, families across Sudan, East Africa and beyond will face even harsher hunger, displacement and suffering in 2026.
