The World Food Program has called on the warring parties in Sudan to provide immediate security guarantees for the delivery of aid.

The United Nations food agency says it is receiving reports of people starving in Sudan and that the number of hungry people has doubled in the past year as the ongoing war cuts civilians off from aid.

“The situation in Sudan today is nothing short of catastrophic,” said Eddie Rowe, Sudan representative and country director for the World Food Program (WFP).

“Millions of people are affected by the conflict. WFP has food in Sudan, but a lack of humanitarian access and other unnecessary hurdles are slowing operations,” he said in a statement on Friday.

“Life-saving aid is not reaching those who need it most and we are already receiving reports of people starving,” he added.

Since the war in Sudan began in April, nearly 18 million people across the country have suffered acute hunger, and more than five million are suffering from famine in areas most affected by the conflict.

The WFP has called on the warring parties in Sudan – the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – to provide immediate guarantees for the unhindered delivery of aid.

“People are really struggling to afford a simple meal a day. …Those most suffering from hunger are resorting to extreme coping strategies to put food on their plates, including selling everything they own,” Leni Kinzli, communications director for WFP Sudan, told Al Jazeera from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

“The biggest challenge is actually our inability to provide assistance across conflict boundaries. … We get no security guarantees and no permits for the free movement of goods,” she added.

Limited aid deliveries

The WFP has been able to provide assistance to only one in 10 people in the conflict zones, which include Khartoum, the western region of Darfur and the state of El Gezira, where the RSF recently advanced.

The agency added in a statement that it was trying to obtain security guarantees to resume operations in El Gezira, a former relief center where many had fled from Khartoum.

Recently, aid deliveries to Sudan have been limited, with 70 trucks stuck in Port Sudan for more than two weeks and another 31 in El Obeid for more than three months, the WFP said. Both cities are controlled by the army.

“For every single truck that we want to move from the Sudanese port to somewhere else, we have to obtain stamps and signatures from different authorities, and it takes time for these permits to be issued,” Kinzli said, calling on the international community to support the people in Sudan and to mobilize political parties to ensure that aid to the country is facilitated.

“Every single one of our trucks must be on the road every day delivering food to the Sudanese people,” Rowe emphasized.

The WFP said the number of hungry people in Sudan has more than doubled compared to last year. Almost nine months after the start of a bloody war eight million people were also forced from their homes, the United Nations said.

Negotiations to end the fighting in Sudan have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.