First Supply Convoy Reaches Famine-Stricken Kadugli Since January — Food Prices Collapse as Civilians Celebrate Road Reopening

The first major supply convoy since January 2026 reached Kadugli — the capital of South Kordofan State and a formally famine-confirmed IPC Phase 5 zone — on May 20, 2026, following SAF's third breaking of the Dilling siege and the reopening of the Dilling–Kadugli road. Approximately 12 trucks loaded with food and essential supplies made the delivery, triggering a dramatic collapse in local food prices: sugar prices dropped from 40,000 Sudanese pounds/kg to 13,000 SDG/kg; flour fell from 30,000 to 13,000 SDG/kg. Civilians celebrated in the streets as the convoy arrived. The price collapse provides immediate relief to a population that has been subjected to some of the most extreme food inflation in Sudan's war-affected zones. Kadugli was one of only two famine areas formally declared under the May 2026 WFP/FAO/UNICEF joint report (along with El Fasher); the IPC Phase 5 classification means an estimated proportion of the population was in catastrophic food insecurity with starvation conditions. The road opening is fragile — RSF-SPLM-N have repeatedly counterattacked to reimpose blockades on both Dilling and Kadugli — and humanitarian actors remain concerned about the durability of supply access. MSF and Sudan Doctors Network have maintained facilities in the Kadugli area throughout the siege period; this convoy represents a first resupply since January when the siege was tightened following the March 2026 RSF-SPLM-N Kurmuk-Dilling offensive. The contrast with El Fasher — where RSF has sealed the city and formal siege conditions apply — highlights how SAF military success in Kordofan is creating differential food access outcomes across the two declared famine zones.