The Interplay of Food Security, Climate Change, and the Impact of 15th April 2023 War in Sudan: A Comprehensive Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46325/afj.v9i2.205Keywords:
ARDL model, Climate Change, Food security, 15th April War in SudanAbstract
Sudan faces deep challenges in the interrelation between food security, climate change, and the impact of the 15th April 2023 war in Sudan. This study investigates the complex relationships among these factors using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model over two periods, 1961–2022 and 2023–2024, capturing pre- and post-conflict dynamics. The key variables analyzed include cereal production, population growth, annual mean precipitation, average temperature, and 15th April 2023 war-induced displacement. The results reveal significant long-run equilibrium relationships among these variables, highlighting the severe impacts of climate change and conflict on agricultural productivity and food security. Findings demonstrate that a 1% increase in cereal production land correlates with a 1.18% rise in food security before the war, but this effect diminishes post-conflict due to displacement and land loss. Population growth, while a positive contributor in stable periods, becomes non-significant under conflict conditions. Climatic variables, particularly precipitation patterns, play a substantial role in food security. The study concludes that food security in Sudan is deeply intertwined with its social, political and environmental context. Policy recommendations include promoting climate-resilient agricultural practices, rebuilding agricultural infrastructure, and adopting integrated strategies to address the combined impacts of climate change and conflict on food security.
Keywords: ARDL model, Climate Change, Food security, 15th April War in Sudan
References
1. Bezuneh M., Yiheyis Z., 2014. Has trade liberalization improved food availability in developing countries? An empirical analysis. Journal of Economic Development, 39: 63–78.
2. Byrnes B.H., Bumb B.L., 1998. Population growth, food production and nutrient requirements. Journal of Crop Production, 1: 1–27.
3. Dabalen A.L., Paul S., 2014. Effect of conflict on dietary diversity: Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire. World Development, 58: 143–158.
4. De Coning C., Krampe F., Tchie A.E.Y., Rosvold E.L., Funnemark A., Tarif K., Seyuba K., Kim K., 2022. Climate, peace and security fact sheet: Sudan. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
5. Elnour M., Siddig K., Grethe H., 2023. A violent market price: The impact of conflict on commodity prices and food security in Sudan. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 25: 2637–2653.
6. Faisal I.M., Parveen S., 2004. Food security in the face of climate change, population growth, and resource constraints: Implications for Bangladesh. Environmental Management, 34: 487–498.
7. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015. Sudan: Country programming framework 2015-2019. Food and Agriculture Organization.
8. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2020a. FAO crop and food supply assessment mission to the Sudan. Food and Agriculture Organization.
9. Food and Agriculture Organization, 2020b. Sudan country profile. Food and Agriculture Organization.
10. FAOSTAT, 2023. Food and agriculture data. Food and Agriculture Organization.
11. FAOSTAT, 2024. Food and agriculture data. Food and Agriculture Organization.
12. Global Hunger Index, 2023. The power of youth in shaping food systems. Global Hunger Index.
13. International Fund for Agricultural Development, 2019. Sudan: Country strategy note. International Fund for Agricultural Development.
14. International Food Policy Research Institute, 2021. Sudan: Agricultural productivity and climate change. International Food Policy Research Institute.
15. International Organization for Migration, 2024. DTM Sudan - Flash alert overview (August - September 2024). International Organization for Migration.
16. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2019. Special report on climate change and land. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
17. Kinda S.R., Badolo F., 2019. Does rainfall variability matter for food security in developing countries? Cogent Economics & Finance, 7(1).
18. Mahrous W., 2019. Climate change and food security in EAC region: A panel data analysis. Review of Economics and Political Science, 4: 270–284.
19. Pesaran M.H., Shin Y., Smith R.J., 2001. Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 16: 289–326.
20. Pickson R.B., Boateng E., 2022. Climate change: A friend or foe to food security in Africa? Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24: 4387–4412.
21. Siddig K., Grethe H., Abdelwahab N., 2018. Impact of climate change on wheat market and food security in Sudan. Journal of Agricultural Economics.
22. Siddig K., Stepanyan D., Wiebelt M., Grethe H., Zhu T., 2020. Climate change and agriculture in the Sudan: Impact pathways beyond changes in mean rainfall and temperature. Ecological Economics, 169.
23. Smith L.C., Haddad L., 2001. How important is improving food availability for reducing child malnutrition in developing countries? Agricultural Economics, 26: 191–204.
24. The Norwegian Refugee Council, 2024. Sudan crisis: People are dying of hunger. The Norwegian Refugee Council.
25. Ujunwa A., Okoyeuzu C., Kalu E.U., 2019. Armed conflict and food security in West Africa: Socioeconomic perspective. International Journal of Social Economics, 46: 182–198.
26. United Nations Environment Programme, 2020. Climate change in Sudan: Risks and adaptation options. United Nations Environment Programme.
27. Warsame A.A., Sheik-Ali I.A., Hassan A.A., Sarkodie S.A., 2024. The nexus between climate change, conflicts and food security in Somalia: Empirical evidence from time-varying Granger causality. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 10(1).
28. World Bank, 2020. Sudan economic update: Unleashing the economic potential of Sudan. World Bank.
29. World Bank, 2021. Sudan economic update. World Bank.
30. World Bank, 2023. World development indicators. World Bank.
31. Yang R.Y., Hanson P.M., 2009. Improved food availability for food security in Asia-Pacific region. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 18: 633–637.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mohammed I. MUSA

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.






