New Satellite Analysis Exposes Extreme Farmland Loss in Sudan

• High-resolution satellite imagery reveals widespread collapse of Sudan’s agricultural system.
• Children describe fleeing their homes and arriving in places where there is “nothing but dust.”
• World Vision warns that without urgent action, Sudan faces an irreversible collapse of food systems across multiple regions.

Port Sudan, 08 July 2026 – “The sky was black with smoke… we ran until we could not breathe.” These are the words of 11-year-old Yusuf*, who fled his village after his family home was shelled.

This is the reality facing millions of children across Sudan, a crisis now visible not only on the ground, but from space. A new World Vision report, the Hollowed Earth, reveals that Sudan’s conflict is destroying the land that sustains the next generation. High-resolution satellite imagery shows nearly 40,000 square kilometres of farmland, an area the size of Switzerland, degraded since the conflict began.

Sudan now faces the world’s largest displacement crisis and a hunger emergency, pushing millions of children at risk of starvation.

A scientific “health check” of Sudan’s land

World Vision compared satellite “health checks” of Sudan’s agricultural zones from early 2023 to 2025. The analysis shows widespread degradation of arable land, severe damage to the Gezira Scheme, conflict-driven restrictions on land and water access, and sharp declines in crop yields due to disrupted fuel and fertiliser supplies.

Families describe burned fields, abandoned farms, and long journeys into areas where agriculture is no longer viable. “I thought we would be safe here, but there is nothing but dust,” Yusuf* recalls.

Sudan was once positioned to be a regional agricultural powerhouse, but decades of underinvestment left the system fragile. The conflict that erupted in April 2023 has pushed it into systemic breakdown. 

Displacement and hunger

Millions have fled to areas with degraded land and limited water.

• 1.8 million children are forced across borders
• More than 3.7 million are displaced inside Sudan

Agricultural collapse, broken trade routes, and market disruption have left 41% of the population in acute hunger, including 5.5 million people in emergency or catastrophic conditions. 

“The land that feeds Sudan’s children is disappearing,” said Simon Mane, World Vision Sudan National Director. “Without urgent action, this crisis will leave a generation facing lifelong damage.”

A call to protect Sudan’s children

World Vision urges immediate scale-up of life-saving food, nutrition, and health assistance; protection of access to land and water; restoration of irrigation networks; safe humanitarian access; and a sustained push for peace.

Since the conflict began in Sudan, World Vision has reached 3.2 million people, including one million children, with food, cash, health services, and protection, and continues supporting farmers with seeds, tools, livestock, and water systems to sustain local food production.

*Name changed to protect identity.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:  

Grace Mavhezha

Communication and Public Engagement Manager, World Vision Sudan

Email: grace_mavhezha@wvi.org 

+263 775 180 450

About World Vision 

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organisation dedicated to working with children, families and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.  For more information, please visit www.wvi.org or follow us on X @WorldVision.