Podcast Summary: The Politics of Hunger in Sudan

Podcast: LSE: Public Lectures and Events
Host: London School of Economics and Political Science
Date: December 3, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Nasreen Alameen (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto)

Overview

This episode features the 2025 LSE Human Rights Day lecture by Dr. Nasreen Alameen, who presents a compelling analysis of the politics of hunger in Sudan amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by war. The lecture situates the current famine within Sudan’s historical context of colonial land policies, neoliberal economic restructuring, and the intersection of international aid, foreign land investment, and resource extraction. Dr. Alameen critically examines how both local and foreign actors — especially Gulf states — have fueled the war, weaponized hunger, and undermined food sovereignty, while highlighting ongoing grassroots resistance.

Key Themes and Discussion Points

1. Framing the Crisis: Hunger Amidst Abundance

[03:57-04:44]

• Dr. Alameen dedicates the talk to those lost to violence globally, contextualizing Sudan’s current crisis:

"The purpose of this talk is to try to answer why over half of Sudan's population ... is currently at great risk of hunger, in a country that could easily feed itself and the entire region."

• Despite millions of acres of fertile land, Sudan faces famine due to a nexus of structural factors, not natural scarcity alone.

2. Roots of Famine: Colonialism, Neoliberalism, and War

[04:44-10:04]

• Land tenure rooted in colonial legal frameworks and decades of privatization have eroded the livelihoods of small farmers and herders.

"The roots of this famine extend to the colonial legal framework that governs land and to decades of privatization policies."

• The current war (since April 2023) between military factions is described as "a multiscaler, counter revolutionary war" enabled by foreign interests, particularly from UAE, Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
• Commodities like gold, gum Arabic, and livestock are being extracted and smuggled, funding war efforts and benefiting foreign elites.
• UAE is highlighted as the primary recipient and profiteer of Sudan's gold:

"Over 90% of Sudan's gold ends up in the UAE." (10:04)

• Both RSF and the army facilitate commodity exports while blocking humanitarian aid corridors.

3. Historical Precedents: Denial and Weaponization of Hunger

[12:23-18:32]

• Dr. Alameen traces famine politics back to the 1980s, showing how regimes denied famine to attract investment and suppress dissent.
• Example: President Nimeiri’s refusal to declare famine in 1983 led to catastrophic consequences and his eventual overthrow.
• US food aid, tied to Cold War geopolitics and the interests of American agribusiness, arrives too late and alters Sudanese dietary patterns/allegiances.

"The influx of US food aid had also tarnished Sudan's image as a potential breadbasket... and Nimedi's deliberate neglect and denial of famine ultimately killed over 240,000 people, mostly children." (15:55)

4. Continuities: Regime Change, Neoliberal Policies, and Persistent Crisis

[18:32-27:20]

• Current famine denial is compared with the past; hunger is weaponized by both the RSF and the army.
• Structural adjustment and privatization, especially under Bashir, catalyzed land dispossession and undermined Sudanese agriculture.
• Gulf states (UAE, Saudi Arabia) and other international actors play key roles in land grabs, resource extraction, and war financing.
• The privatization of the Jazeera scheme (one of the world’s largest irrigation projects) decimated smallholder farming and centralized control.

5. Land Grabs, Empire-Making, and the Cartography of Violence

[27:20-33:33]

• Massive land leases to Saudi and Emirati investors are used to grow animal feed for export, not food for local people.
• Pastoral livelihoods and local food systems are destroyed, empowering corporate and elite actors.
• These trends reflect wider “empire-making” strategies by Gulf actors, controlling food networks and regional economies.

6. The Role of Foreign Investment and US Aid

[33:55-42:14]

• US interest resurges post-2021 coup, with renewed ambitions to use Sudan as a breadbasket.
• US food assistance is often tied to domestic agricultural surplus disposal and market expansion for American farmers.
• The Food for Peace program and related policy changes illustrate how “aid” can open new markets for US agribusiness while fostering structural dependency and deepening food insecurity.
• Funding cuts by international donors have exposed millions to greater risk, leaving mutual aid networks as the main relief providers.

7. Grassroots Resistance: Mutual Aid and Organizing for Food Sovereignty

[42:14-43:20]

• Emergency Response Rooms and the Jazeera and Menagh Farmers Alliance exemplify local resilience:

"They are leading food and medicine distribution efforts, organizing communal kitchens, coordinating evacuations and protection activities, setting up ad hoc emergency clinics, rape crisis centers and women response rooms." (38:10)

• Campaigns like "We Must Plant" help restore subsistence farming, reduce aid dependency, and support community recovery after violence.

8. Ongoing Challenges: Ethnic Tensions, Targeted Violence, and the Role of Elites

[43:20-44:35]

• SAF-affiliated militias target “Kanabi” communities of non-Arab farmworkers, exacerbating historic land/labor tensions—sometimes manipulated to enable land grabs.
• The We Must Plant campaign aims to include and support marginalized groups.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Famine Denial:
  "Nimeiri's refusal to declare famine in Darfur was... shaped by his desire to uphold an image of Sudan as the breadbasket... in order to attract foreign investments in agriculture." (13:00)

• On Weaponization of Commodities:
  "As Sudanese people starve, livestock exports to Saudi Arabia and Egypt are becoming an important source of revenue for both warring parties." (10:04)

• On External Actors:
  "Over 90% of Sudan's gold ends up in the UAE." (09:35)
  "For the UAE, the profit margins from this gold have risen exponentially since the war began..." (09:55)

• On U.S. Food Aid:
  "US food aid had arrived too late, and Nimeiri's deliberate neglect and denial of famine ultimately killed over 240,000 people, mostly children." (15:55)
  "Aid workers had to adjust to being hailed as Reagan by grateful villagers as they distributed sacks of US wheat in western Sudan." (15:55)

• On Local Organizing:
  "If you leave today, don't feel despair... try to plug in by supporting the emergency response rooms, for example." (54:13)

Audience Q&A Highlights

Political Economy and Cartographies of Empire

[46:59-53:11]

• Dr. Alameen advocates "following the money" to uncover entanglements between actors in Sudan, Gaza, and beyond.
• Gulf empire-making is entangled, but not fully determined by US imperialism — they operate as emergent forms of empire with territorial and deterritorial elements.

Information Flow and Media Attention

[60:13-62:52]

• Challenges include limited media interest, logistical barriers for reporters, and the naturalization of wars on the African continent through racism and lack of coverage.
• Strategic media coverage can spur accountability (e.g., exposing Canadian weapons in Darfur).

On Elites and Corporate Conglomerates

[67:43-71:55]

• Domestic elites and conglomerates like the Dal Group are complicit in restructuring agriculture and undermining small farmers, sometimes hiring RSF mercenaries for security.
• Dr. Alameen is skeptical of elite-driven solutions, instead championing grassroots movements.

Debt Economies and Neoliberal Restructuring

[73:06-78:41]

• Neoliberal reforms shifted debt burdens onto small farmers, especially after the dissolution of large irrigation schemes.
• Farmers now face high private loans, must finance irrigation themselves, and are pushed into debt cycles that feed wider economic dispossession.

Emergency Response Rooms as a Model

[73:26-79:19]

• “They’re running a country more or less in the absence of a functioning state…” (54:36)
• Their mutual aid and self-organization could provide lessons for other conflict zones like Gaza.

Tracking Extraction and 'Blood Gold'

[74:30-81:18]

• Calls for boycotts and strategic campaigns to disrupt flows (similar to conflict diamonds) are emerging but hampered by laundering through regional proxies.

Regional Impact and Future Outlook

[75:18-83:26]

• The extraction of resources and weaponization of hunger has regional implications, endangering South Sudan and influencing broader political economies.
• Dr. Alameen encourages collective action: “There’s ways to, I think, get active ... linking it to Sudan, linking it to Palestine, linking it to the Congo." (81:18-83:26)

Notable Action Points and Resources

• Support grassroots Sudanese groups via sudansolidarity.com
• Academic/Cultural workers can join the UAE boycott initiative.
• Explore writings by Matthew Benson, Raja Makawi, Moza Nin, and the curriculum “Seeing the World Through Sudan.”
• Engage in campaigns for divestment from complicit corporations and institutions.

Tone and Style

Dr. Alameen’s lecture is at once analytical, historical, and deeply personal. She weaves together macro-level political economy, intimate community stories, and a call to solidarity, maintaining a tone that is urgent, inclusive, and hopeful, despite the gravity of the crisis.

Memorable closing advice:
“If you leave today, don’t feel despair ... try to plug in by supporting the emergency response rooms, for example.” (54:13)

End of summary.