Author(s)

Abstract

Sudan today faces compounding crises of fragility, climate change, conflict, and displacement. These have disrupted essential resource systems and livelihoods of millions of people (UNHCR 2025a). Across the country, the pressures of conflict, climate extremes (e.g., drought, floods) and environmental degradation intersect with growing humanitarian needs. In the eastern and central regions—particularly Gedaref, Kassala, and White Nile States (Figure 1)—Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees from neighboring countries, and local host communities live under threats of climate extremes, along with the pressure of poor services and limited resources to rely on (Saleh et al. 2024). Moreover, an additional challenge is the significant funding gap of nearly 72% (more than USD 300 million) of the estimated funds required to address the needs of the immediate crises (UNHCR 2025b). 

This convergence of climatic stress and displacement has intensified competition over water, land, and ecosystem services, increasing pressure on already fragile natural resource systems. In many locations across the country, seasonal water shortages, declining vegetation productivity, and land degradation exacerbate social and economic vulnerabilities, reducing adaptive capacity among both displaced populations and host communities.

Against this backdrop, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in collaboration with the Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), are implementing a joint initiative under the CGIAR–UNHCR partnership in Sudan. The initiative seeks to identify practical entry points and create operational and sustainable solutions to strengthen water, food, energy, and environmental security amid ongoing fragility and conflict in Sudan, and to foster long-term resilience reaching beyond immediate crisis relief.

At the outset of this work, the use case for this project was co-defined with UNHCR to support three specific applications: (i) identifying priority locations for improving water interventions around displacement sites across Gedaref, Kassala, and White Nile States; (ii) assessing land and vegetation conditions that influence food production, livelihoods and settlement planning; and (iii) understanding exposure to climate risks that affect displaced persons and host communities. This brief presents results for three use cases, showing how these data layers can inform biophysical assessments and support both effective resource allocation and early recovery planning where ground access is limited.