Food Crisis Response-Enhancing resilience and productive capacities for women in crises in response to the food crisis in South Kordofan. ltpgtThe conflict in Sudan has already created the world’s largest displacement crisis. Fighting, displacement, and lack of humanitarian access to the most vulnerable population have placed millions at risk of sliding into emergency levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition. The increasing levels of conflict, organized violence, sexual violence, and growing evidence of conflict-induced hunger faced by the people of Sudan have ltspangtdeeply exacerbated the pre-existing hunger and child malnutrition crisis and displaced 8.5 million people. lt/spangtlt/pgtltpgtToday, over 25 million Sudanese people are trapped in a spiral of deteriorating food security, violence, and displacement.lt/pgtltpgtThe most recent IPC reports warn that hunger has reached the highest level ever recorded during the harvest season.lt/pgtltpgtltspangtIn context, the crisis lt/spangtltspangthas:lt/spangtltbrgtlt/pgtltolgtltligtExtensively damaged and disrupted essential infrastructure and services, including those necessary for food production, processing and distribution, and water and healthcare facilities.ltbrgtlt/ligtltligtCaused loss of purchasing power and compelled markets to collapse. lt/ligtltligtExercabated the gendered impact of the hunger crisis, with women and girls facing increased risk of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, because today, women and adolescent girls must continually choose between starvation and safety as they face violence or harassment when attempting to access markets, fields, livelihood opportunities, humanitarian distribution sites, or other zones.lt/ligtltligtAssigned a host status to a population in R1 that was already food insecure and at high risk of acute malnutrition.lt/ligtltligtCompelled the host community in R1, with the food stress described in (1), to share its minimal food reserves with over 570,000 internally displaced persons.lt/ligtltligtSet the stage for the occurrence of resource-based conflict between Host communities and the IDP communities. lt/ligtlt/olgtltdivgtConsequently:ltbrgtlt/divgtltolgtltligtThe Sudanese arrivals in R1 risk facing catastrophic conditions, as they put extra pressure on already overstretched resources and limited funding.ltbrgtlt/ligtltligtThe people bearing the brunt of the conflict are those who are most likely to have exhausted their means and strategies to avoid harm, such as women, children, older adults, and people with disabilities.lt/ligtltligtA significant proportion of the over 2.9 million children who are already acutely malnourished, including the 729,000 children under five who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, have arrived in R1.lt/ligtltligtThere are reported cases of death in children who are malnourished, and according to the Sudan Nutrition Cluster, about 222,000 severely malnourished children and more than 7,000 new mothers are likely to die in the coming months if their nutritional and health needs remain unmet. A significant proportion of the forecast by the Sudan Nutrition Cluster will occur in R1.lt/ligtltligtThere are also reported cases of women and girls being forced to resort to survival sex to access food and of increased early and forced marriage.ltbrgtlt/ligtlt/olgtltdivgtActors must act swiftly to alleviate hunger and prevent a catastrophic malnutrition emergency. lt/divgtltdivgtThe proposed SHF-NCA food crisis response must explore the nexus between conflict, poverty, hunger, and gender-based violence engage grassroots agricultural mechanisms with targeted input supplies and capacity-building, and work towards increasingltspangt the acreage under cultivation and yieldlt/spangtltspangt lt/spangtltspangtfor lt/spangtltspangtgrainslt/spangtltspangt and vegetables lt/spangtltspangtin the cominglt/spangtltspangt planting season.lt/spangtlt/divgtltdivgtThe project willlt/divgtltdivgtltligtProvide agricultural inputs and services to women's groups at the grassroots level in Heiban, Delami, Umdorein, and Thobo.ltbrgtlt/ligtltligtAnd conduct the necessary post-distribution monitoring exercises for learning.ltbrgtlt/ligtlt/divgtltpgtThe project's implementation will be women-in-crisis centered, utilizing the existing partnerships between NCA and the Nuba Women's Union. Members of the women's union have been tasked with forming groups of 30 and 60 women, who will then be tasked with taking up large-scale grain and vegetable production with support from NCA, the local government structures, and all other relevant stakeholders in the region.lt/pgt