GENEVA The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday called for action in Sudan as famine conditions were confirmed in parts of Darfur by the latest food security assessment report. In response to alarming new findings, FAO is urging "an immediate cessation of hostilities, rapid scale-up of life-saving food, nutrition, and cash assistance as well as of the emergency agricultural aid," the agency said in a statement. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has found that famine conditions are ongoing in the Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp which hosts 500,000 IDPs outside of El Fasher town in Darfur.
"We are witnessing horrific famine conditions in parts of North Darfur and an increasing risk of famine in other settlements and conflict-affected areas, especially in Darfur, South Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazirah," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said. "We have been raising the alarm about this looming catastrophe, yet due to the ongoing conflict and limited humanitarian access these communities are still not getting the immediate support they need," Qu said. "We need urgent, concerted action to prevent an even greater catastrophe from unfolding.
" Noting that famine can be halted, he said that the immediate cessation of hostilities could be an essential first step for that. "Peace is a prerequisite for food security, and the right to food is a basic human right," he added. Sudan is highly dependent on agriculture, with nearly 65% of its.