As international humanitarian aid falls dangerously short, Muslim diaspora networks are stepping in to sustain food, healthcare, and community support across Sudan
The sheer scale of Sudan’s humanitarian crisis defies comprehension.
According to the World Health Organization, 33.7 million people require urgent assistance, 21.2 million face acute food insecurity, and 11.5 million have been forcibly displaced.
But the reality behind these numbers is starker: Parents skipping meals to feed their children, families trekking for days to find refuge, and neighbors keeping community kitchens alive while artillery fire echoes through their neighborhoods.
“It’s families who are simply trying to get a meal for today and can’t even think about what they’ll have to eat tomorrow,” says Michael Selby-Green, international media coordinator at Islamic Relief, a UK-headquartered non-profit organisation.
Testimonies reveal harrowing details - some have told Islamic Relief they are surviving on leaves and animal feed for lack of everything else.
When civil war erupted in April 2023, the mechanisms of state-led relief crumbled almost overnight. Compounding this failure is a glaring shortfall in global support. The UN’s humanitarian response for Sudan barely met 40% of its funding targets in 2025, stripping traditional aid safeguards from the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
Now, three years into the conflict, Islamic social finance tools such as Zakat, Sadaqah, as well as Muslim diaspora networks are helping fill some of the gaps left by faltering international support.
Geography of hunger and siege
The crisis looks dramatically different depending on where people reside .
In parts of Darfur and North and West Kordofan, the risk of famine remains acute. Elsewhere, fighting has eased enough for some displaced civilians to return home. But returning home does not necessarily mean returning to normal life.
“Return reads as a positive indicator in most datasets. On the ground it’s a new caseload,” says Khan.
In Darfur, people are confronting siege-like conditions.
When Penny Appeal Canada operated a central kitchen in Abu-Shouk Camp in El-Fasher, North Darfur last October, the local market had effectively stopped functioning.
“We could not run normal competitive procurement, so funds went directly to the kitchen supervisor to buy whatever was physically available that day,” says Khan.
Volunteers cooked and delivered meals with persistent shelling. Shortly after the project closed, Penny Appeal Canada lost contact with many of the camp committees.
Some displaced families later reached the Northern State. At Al-Afad Camp in Al-Dabbah, the organisation provided daily iftar to 600 households in early 2026.
“One man there had walked four days to reach it,” says Khan.
When food becomes privilege
Sudan’s hunger crisis is not just about whether food is physically available.
In some areas, markets continue to operate, but inflation, currency depreciation and disrupted supply chains have pushed prices beyond the reach of ordinary households.
“Even where food is available in markets, the lack of physical cash means people can’t always buy it, and prices have become unaffordable to most people because of massive inflation and supply shortages,” says Selby-Green.
This is one reason Muslim Hands, an international NGO in over 52 countries, has increasingly prioritised emergency food assistance, hot meals, and cash-based support alongside its longer-established seasonal food programmes.
Penny Appeal Canada describes the situation as “price volatility rather than absolute scarcity”.
“Food exists. Households cannot afford it and agencies cannot budget against it,” Firaz Khan, the organisation’s programs communications specialist tells Salaam Gateway.
The power of Islamic charitable giving
Sudan’s community kitchens, known as Takaaya, have become a vital grassroots response to hunger.
Islamic Relief works with some of these kitchens and has called for greater international support. Hundreds have faced closure over the past year, according to the organisation, with many relying heavily on donations from Sudanese communities abroad.
“Zakat and other similar types of donations are crucial for Islamic Relief’s response in Sudan and have become even more so since governments around the world cut aid over the last few years,” says Selby-Green.
Zakat is an obligatory annual charity for every qualifying adult Muslim whose wealth exceeds a specific threshold. Sadaqah, meanwhile, is a voluntary act of giving done out of compassion, with no fixed amount or timeline.
At the Zakat Foundation of America (ZFA), funding comes primarily from individual community donors through Zakat and Sadaqah.
“In Sudan, these contributions translate into food, healthcare, shelter, essential household supplies and assistance for vulnerable children and families,” a ZFA spokesperson tells Salaam Gateway.
The foundation says it has worked in Sudan since 2007 and that its emergency response since April 2023 has reached nearly 167,000 people.
For Penny Appeal Canada, faith-based giving accounts for most of its Sudan portfolio. “It’s not one stream among several. For Sudan it’s close to the whole thing,” says Khan.
Zakat, Zakat al-Fitr, Qurbani and Sadaqah from Canadian Muslim donors fund the organisation’s work. During Ramadan 2026, Zakat al-Fitr reached 2,000 families in the Khartoum State, while Qurbani, a ritual sacrifice of livestock during Eid Al Adha, provided fresh meat to communities where protein was otherwise unaffordable.
The challenge of seasonality and security
For all the charitable tools available, emergency food support can not rely solely or indefinitely on Islamic philanthropy, due to the seasonality of donations and the longevity of assistance required.
Sudan was historically a major agricultural producer, but the destruction of farms, displacement of farmers, looting of machinery, and collapse of markets have damaged the foundations of food security.
Islamic Relief is therefore combining urgent relief with livelihood programmes to reduce dependence on emergency aid as families regain the ability to produce food and earn an income.
“Emergency relief saves lives, but it isn’t a long-term solution,” says Selby-Green. “Farmers need seeds, tools, fertiliser, cash, and support to rehabilitate irrigation systems, including solar systems.”
The seasonality of Islamic charitable donations compounds the issue. “The trade-off is timing,” says Khan. “Zakat and Qurbani concentrate liquidity into Ramadan and Dhul Hijjah. Emergencies do not.”
For Sudan, the challenge is turning Muslim generosity into a reliable, year-round lifeline. More so, this generosity needs to be channelled through accountable structures.
Penny Appeal Canada operates entirely through Sudanese partners, who undergo due diligence before funds are transferred, while beneficiary lists are verified in the field. Because displaced families are constantly on the move, these lists must remain “live.”
Similarly, Muslim Hands has relied on community-based organisations to extend its reach. Since April 2023, its programs have reached nearly 350,000 people, delivering food, clean water, education, and emergency response.
“Local organisations provide much more than logistical support,” Faisal Safdar, manager of global operations development at Muslim Hands tells Salaam Gateway.
A prime example is the NGO’s work with the Alryada Voluntary Organization, whose insight enabled targeted assistance for displaced families in Atbara, Aldamer, and Shandi, cities located in the River Nile State of Sudan.
“This has helped us reach highly vulnerable demographics, including female-headed households, people with disabilities, and individuals living with chronic illnesses,” Safdar notes.
.png)