The Sudanese government has suspended its participation in the global hunger monitoring system on the eve of a report that’s expected to show famine spreading across the country.

It is a step likely to undercut efforts to address one of the world’s largest hunger crises.

In a letter dated December 23, the agriculture minister said the government was halting its participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (Isystem.

The letter accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity.”

On Tuesday, the IPC is expected to publish a report finding that famine has spread to five areas in Sudan and could expand to 10 by May, according to a briefing document seen by Reuters.

“This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict and poor humanitarian access,” the document stated.

A spokesperson for the Rome-based IPC declined to comment.

Sudan’s withdrawal from the IPC system could undermine humanitarian efforts to help millions of Sudanese suffering from extreme hunger, said the leader of a non-governmental organisation operating there, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Withdrawal from the IPC system won’t change the reality of hunger on the ground,” the NGO source said. “But it does deprive the international community of its compass to navigate Sudan’s hunger crisis.”

It added, “Without independent analysis, we’re flying blind into this storm of food insecurity.”

A diplomat with Sudan’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the move to cut off the IPC.

The IPC is an independent body funded by Western nations and overseen by 19 large humanitarian organisations and intergovernmental institutions.

A linchpin in the world’s vast system for monitoring and alleviating hunger, it is designed to sound the alarm about developing food crises so organisations can respond and prevent famine and mass starvation.

A recent Reuters investigation found that the Sudanese government obstructed the IPC’s work earlier this year, delaying by months a famine determination for the sprawling Zamzam camp for internally displaced people, where some have resorted to eating tree leaves to survive.

Monday’s letter was addressed to the IPC and its famine review committee, which vets and verifies a famine finding, and to diplomats.

(NAN)