In light of the war, providing a daily meal has become a risky challenge for the Sudanese (Reuters)

Sameh Makki's popular kitchen is only 100 meters away from the market where he buys his needs, but he often needed two hours to reach it, trying to avoid the exchange of fire between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in their struggle for power for 11 months.

Despite this, Makki (43 years old), a former employee of a non-governmental organization, took risks several times in order to buy what was needed to provide food for about 150 families to whom he opened the kitchen of his family home.

Since the outbreak of war between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), the two former allies, on April 15, 2023, hundreds, like Mekki, have set up restaurants providing free food in various parts of Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world that has become... Cured famine, if you haven't already achieved it, according to humanitarian organizations.

Abdul Ghaffar Omar, a coordinator of one of these popular kitchens since the first days of the war, says, “Young people began cooking in their homes and distributing meals for free to their neighbors,” while Khartoum and other areas became “ghost cities” due to the displacement that left “the largest displacement crisis in the world.” According to the United Nations.

Displaced people eating Ramadan breakfast in Port Sudan (Reuters)

Safety net

These operations began quickly because the Sudanese had been organizing for some time. During the demonstrations against the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown in 2019, “resistance committees” were formed in every neighborhood to organize protests, and these committees were activated after the coup carried out by army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Year 2021.

In 2020, these committees organized an anti-coronavirus campaign. Today, it represents the last safety net for about 48 million Sudanese who are left without a state, infrastructure, or basic services.

In "rapid intervention halls" located throughout the country, volunteer doctors, engineers, and experts collect donations and draw up lists of families in need of assistance and the names of the wounded, directing them to free popular restaurants and field medical centers.

Volunteer army

The United Nations, unable to reach civilians trapped behind the battle lines, says that these volunteers are helping 4 million Sudanese trapped by the war.

In Khartoum, tens of thousands of citizens eat dishes of rice, beans or lentils every day thanks to these public kitchens, according to the testimonies of many volunteers.

The World Food Program says that only "less than 5%" of Sudanese can "provide themselves with a full meal."

In Omdurman, Makki and others sometimes succeed in organizing the distribution of free meals in a mosque. But this is not possible in the Bahri area, the northern suburb of Khartoum besieged by the conflict.

“We are hiding to distribute” food, says one volunteer, requesting anonymity.

He explains that the army considers Bahri “a fortress for the Rapid Support Forces, and that any food supplies will benefit those forces.” The Rapid Support Forces, for their part, confiscate and loot any supplies they come across.

Mahmoud Mukhtar says, "We cannot transport large quantities of food at once so as not to attract the attention of the Rapid Support Forces."

Murder and rape

Mukhtar, who took refuge in Cairo after being in the ranks of volunteers in his country, lost many of his comrades. “There are people who were killed, raped, detained, and beaten,” he says while trying to control his tears.

He continues, "Public kitchens are being bombed by both warring parties, but we have no choice. Without them, we would die of hunger."

But to continue operating, these kitchens need a stock of goods.

Coordinator Omar says, “We always fear that they will not have” this stock, stressing that kitchens usually only have enough quantities for two weeks for fear of looting and also because of the lack of liquidity in a country where inflation was rampant even before the war broke out.

Source: French