Darfur displacement: community kitchens shoulder the load
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John Ashworth
Jul 23, 2025, 2:15:59 AMJul 23
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In Darfur’s displacement epicentre, community kitchens shoulder the load
“We provided food and water because it is our custom.”
Mohamed Jamal Alasmer and Ahmed Gouja
The New Humanitarian
22 July 2025
TAWILA, Sudan
When vast numbers of displaced Sudanese began arriving in the Darfur
town of Tawila three months ago, escaping vicious attacks from the
paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a small group of local
volunteers mounted an emergency response.
With five bowls of aseeda – a thick high-energy porridge – cooked from
a single sack of flour from their stocks at home, the group quickly
made their way to the new arrivals, most of whom had come to the town
with nothing.
Soon, the initiative spread across their neighbourhood, as other
residents donated supplies. Now, despite only receiving sporadic
funding, the group feeds more than 2,000 families a day – many of them
large households with no other source of food.
“What pushed us to continue was the situation of the newcomers – they
had fled the war with nothing,” said Fouad Ismail, a founder of the
initiative. “As locals, we know how to manage things, to help people
until they can become self-reliant.”
Fouad’s initiative is one of many community kitchens that have sprung
up across Tawila, a small town with few resources or public
infrastructure that has now become one of the main hubs of
displacement in Darfur, with up to a million people seeking refuge
there.
Most of the displaced have come from North Darfur state, which is the
only part of the Darfur region – the stronghold of the RSF – where the
paramilitary group is still being challenged by the Sudanese Armed
Forces (SAF) and allied militias.
Arrivals have soared since April, when up to 400,000 people escaped
the famine-hit Zam Zam displacement camp. The camp – the largest in
Sudan – was brutally overrun by the RSF, which viewed communities
there as aligned to pro-SAF armed groups.
Volunteers say their efforts in Tawila – part of a nationwide mutual
aid movement that has mobilised since the war between the RSF and the
SAF erupted in 2023 – have saved lives as people face some of the
harshest conditions in the country.
Still, the volunteers say they are relying on small donations – from
communities, local philanthropists, and international aid groups –
while contending with supply shocks, soaring prices, local
bureaucracy, and psychological strain.
Despite their efforts, conditions remain dire both inside Tawila town
and in surrounding camps, where hundreds of thousands of people are
living in open fields – exposed to relentless dust and with little to
no shade from the harsh elements.
“Families are surviving on scraps, sleeping in the dirt under roofs
made out of straw, with barely any access to clean water and toilets,”
said the Sudan country director of the Norwegian refugee council
(NRC), Shashwat Saraf, in a statement this month.
Saraf, whose organisation is one of few international groups operating
on the ground, said the window for saving thousands of lives is
closing fast, especially as the rainy season is set to worsen
conditions and restrict access to humanitarian groups.
Safe haven
Darfuris began escaping to Tawila early last year. Despite its lack of
basic services and facilities, it became a safe haven because it is
controlled by an armed group that has maintained a stance of
neutrality between the SAF and the RSF.
Many who spoke to The New Humanitarian said they also came to the town
believing its tight-knit community would offer support – and hoping
that, over time, international aid groups would follow.
Asia Mohammed Sarour, who recently arrived from El Fasher – the North
Darfur capital which is currently besieged by the RSF – said she has
been receiving rice and lentils from a community kitchen, but has not
received help from international aid groups.
“Our current need is for nutrition programs, as our children have
become weak and so have we,” Sarour said. “We also need utensils,
shelter, plastic sheeting, blankets, and a market where we can work.
Local responders described a range of efforts, spanning emergency
response rooms – mutual aid networks that exist across the country –
to more informal Takaya soup kitchens set up by community members.
Some kitchens were established by Tawila’s host community, while
others are run by displaced people who had operated similar kitchens
in their own towns and villages before being uprooted – and have now
restarted them in camps.
Ismail, the founder of the group that began with five bowls of aseeda,
said his kitchen was one of the first in Tawila. He described a sense
of duty to those in need – echoing the idea of Al Dhara, a local
tradition of hospitality, especially to strangers and travellers.
“The motive that drove us to establish the kitchen was humanitarian,”
he said. “We saw people coming to us in Tawila and considered them
guests – we provided food and water because it is our custom.”
Ismail said his kitchen relies entirely on local donations and
volunteer efforts. “We used to collect donations from neighbourhood
residents and philanthropists, and we are still continuing,” he
explained. “There is no specific, fixed entity we rely on.”
“The displacement has been continuous”
Volunteer Islam Adam Ibrahim said she launched a community kitchen in
February 2024 after leaving El Fasher for Tawila and hasn’t stopped
since because “the displacement has been continuous”.
Ibrahim said her kitchen began with just a few pots serving a small
number of people in El Fasher but now prepares 22 large pots daily in
Tawila from one central kitchen with four additional branches and
distribution points.
She said financial support comes from local residents, the Tawila
emergency response room – which coordinates kitchens and other local
efforts in the town – and an international NGO.
All of the local kitchens coordinate with each-other, added Bader
Abdul Rahman Mohamed, who leads the Kanouz kitchen at the Daba Nayra
camp, which is one of the main hubs receiving newly displaced people.
“We work well and in coordination with other kitchens and
organisations,” Mohamed said. “Each group has its own area or
exclusive region, covering the daily needs based on its capacity or
the kitchen’s size.”
Mohamed said his kitchen began operations in April, with a modest
first meal of lentil porridge. It now provides lunch daily to around
1,200 people, on a 10-day meal plan that includes millet porridge,
oranges, and grilled meat.
The kitchen is run by around a dozen volunteers – some of whom are
displaced themselves – and gives particular attention and care to
vulnerable families who are identified by community leaders for
needing additional support, Mohamed explained.
“We give them special meal cards so they can come anytime – morning,
noon, or evening,” he said. “Unlike others, they are not limited to
one meal per day. Whenever food is ready, they receive their portion.”
Mohamed said his team operates on principles of solidarity and shared
leadership – values common to mutual aid groups: There is no
hierarchy, decisions are made collectively, and team members support
one another when emergencies arise.
Pricey goods and bureaucratic hurdles
Despite the local efforts and the limited support from international
organisations, displaced people, Tawila residents, and civil society
all described conditions in and around the town as the worst in Darfur
and among the worst in the country.
According to NRC, in four camps set up to accommodate new arrivals,
only 10% of people have reliable water access, less than 10% have
access to latrines, and most families report eating one meal a day or
less.
“People here are living in harsh conditions, suffering from pollution
as well as from the sun,” said Ibrahim, the volunteer from El Fasher
who helped launch a kitchen in early 2024.
Ibrahim said the vast majority of children fleeing Zam Zam show signs
of malnutrition, while families struggle to feed themselves with the
meals provided, and women face added burdens due to lost livelihoods.
Volunteers described funding as their biggest challenge, with local
communities overstretched in what they can provide and money from
international donors coming in irregularly.
“We rely on grants from humanitarian organisations, and most kitchens
in Tawila depend on this type of humanitarian funding, which is
neither continuous nor consistent,” said Mohamed, from the Kanouz
kitchen.
“Sometimes, we cannot secure next week’s funding, so we reduce the
quantity served daily or omit some items — for example, removing meat
from a meal,” Mohamed added. “Some kitchens have stopped operating,
and others are working partially.”
Rani Salah Abdullah, who works for the emergency response room in
Tawila, said his group operates without any stockpiles, collecting
water from a few scarce hand pumps, and relying entirely on daily
donations from the community.
“We urgently appeal to international organisations, United Nations
agencies, and philanthropists for immediate intervention,” Rani said.
“We need support for local organisations and initiatives to address
this dire humanitarian situation.”
Mohamed and others also described numerous supply-side challenges.
Tawila is dependent on goods coming from Chad, Libya, and eastern
Sudan, yet roads are regularly blocked by the RSF, and checkpoint
taxes on trucks have driven up prices.
The responders said they are also struggling with a severe cash crunch
as funds sent to their bank accounts or via mobile transfers become
costly to access due to extremely high exchange rates.
Bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the civilian administration controlled
by the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) – the armed group
that is in charge of Tawila – have further complicated relief efforts,
several volunteers said.
They said displaced people arriving in the town must obtain permission
to set up kitchens or join local initiatives, a process that can
involve vetting funding sources and approval from multiple
authorities, including police and intelligence.
Several volunteers who escaped to Tawila described enduring
psychological trauma with little or no support following harassment
and arrests by the RSF and pro-SAF forces in El Fasher and nearby
camps.
Others said the sheer scale of displacement in Tawila and limited
resources have added to their stress, creating a sense of
helplessness. They called for urgent mental health support for
volunteers.
Despite the challenges, none of the responders said they planned to
stop their work. Several spoke of ambitions to expand beyond kitchens,
with ideas ranging from protection initiatives for women and girls to
vocational training for displaced people.
“We have a humanity that does not allow us to stop, because what
affects your brother and sister affects you,” said Ibrahim, the
volunteer from El Fasher. “We too were displaced before and people
stood with us.”
Edited by Philip Kleinfeld.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2025/07/22/darfur-sudan-displacement-epicentre-community-kitchens-shoulder-load-mutual-aid
END
______________________
John Ashworth
ashwor...@gmail.com
+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile, WhatsApp and Signal)
PO Box 403 - 00206, Kiserian, Kenya
“We provided food and water because it is our custom.”
Mohamed Jamal Alasmer and Ahmed Gouja
The New Humanitarian
22 July 2025
TAWILA, Sudan
When vast numbers of displaced Sudanese began arriving in the Darfur
town of Tawila three months ago, escaping vicious attacks from the
paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a small group of local
volunteers mounted an emergency response.
With five bowls of aseeda – a thick high-energy porridge – cooked from
a single sack of flour from their stocks at home, the group quickly
made their way to the new arrivals, most of whom had come to the town
with nothing.
Soon, the initiative spread across their neighbourhood, as other
residents donated supplies. Now, despite only receiving sporadic
funding, the group feeds more than 2,000 families a day – many of them
large households with no other source of food.
“What pushed us to continue was the situation of the newcomers – they
had fled the war with nothing,” said Fouad Ismail, a founder of the
initiative. “As locals, we know how to manage things, to help people
until they can become self-reliant.”
Fouad’s initiative is one of many community kitchens that have sprung
up across Tawila, a small town with few resources or public
infrastructure that has now become one of the main hubs of
displacement in Darfur, with up to a million people seeking refuge
there.
Most of the displaced have come from North Darfur state, which is the
only part of the Darfur region – the stronghold of the RSF – where the
paramilitary group is still being challenged by the Sudanese Armed
Forces (SAF) and allied militias.
Arrivals have soared since April, when up to 400,000 people escaped
the famine-hit Zam Zam displacement camp. The camp – the largest in
Sudan – was brutally overrun by the RSF, which viewed communities
there as aligned to pro-SAF armed groups.
Volunteers say their efforts in Tawila – part of a nationwide mutual
aid movement that has mobilised since the war between the RSF and the
SAF erupted in 2023 – have saved lives as people face some of the
harshest conditions in the country.
Still, the volunteers say they are relying on small donations – from
communities, local philanthropists, and international aid groups –
while contending with supply shocks, soaring prices, local
bureaucracy, and psychological strain.
Despite their efforts, conditions remain dire both inside Tawila town
and in surrounding camps, where hundreds of thousands of people are
living in open fields – exposed to relentless dust and with little to
no shade from the harsh elements.
“Families are surviving on scraps, sleeping in the dirt under roofs
made out of straw, with barely any access to clean water and toilets,”
said the Sudan country director of the Norwegian refugee council
(NRC), Shashwat Saraf, in a statement this month.
Saraf, whose organisation is one of few international groups operating
on the ground, said the window for saving thousands of lives is
closing fast, especially as the rainy season is set to worsen
conditions and restrict access to humanitarian groups.
Safe haven
Darfuris began escaping to Tawila early last year. Despite its lack of
basic services and facilities, it became a safe haven because it is
controlled by an armed group that has maintained a stance of
neutrality between the SAF and the RSF.
Many who spoke to The New Humanitarian said they also came to the town
believing its tight-knit community would offer support – and hoping
that, over time, international aid groups would follow.
Asia Mohammed Sarour, who recently arrived from El Fasher – the North
Darfur capital which is currently besieged by the RSF – said she has
been receiving rice and lentils from a community kitchen, but has not
received help from international aid groups.
“Our current need is for nutrition programs, as our children have
become weak and so have we,” Sarour said. “We also need utensils,
shelter, plastic sheeting, blankets, and a market where we can work.
Local responders described a range of efforts, spanning emergency
response rooms – mutual aid networks that exist across the country –
to more informal Takaya soup kitchens set up by community members.
Some kitchens were established by Tawila’s host community, while
others are run by displaced people who had operated similar kitchens
in their own towns and villages before being uprooted – and have now
restarted them in camps.
Ismail, the founder of the group that began with five bowls of aseeda,
said his kitchen was one of the first in Tawila. He described a sense
of duty to those in need – echoing the idea of Al Dhara, a local
tradition of hospitality, especially to strangers and travellers.
“The motive that drove us to establish the kitchen was humanitarian,”
he said. “We saw people coming to us in Tawila and considered them
guests – we provided food and water because it is our custom.”
Ismail said his kitchen relies entirely on local donations and
volunteer efforts. “We used to collect donations from neighbourhood
residents and philanthropists, and we are still continuing,” he
explained. “There is no specific, fixed entity we rely on.”
“The displacement has been continuous”
Volunteer Islam Adam Ibrahim said she launched a community kitchen in
February 2024 after leaving El Fasher for Tawila and hasn’t stopped
since because “the displacement has been continuous”.
Ibrahim said her kitchen began with just a few pots serving a small
number of people in El Fasher but now prepares 22 large pots daily in
Tawila from one central kitchen with four additional branches and
distribution points.
She said financial support comes from local residents, the Tawila
emergency response room – which coordinates kitchens and other local
efforts in the town – and an international NGO.
All of the local kitchens coordinate with each-other, added Bader
Abdul Rahman Mohamed, who leads the Kanouz kitchen at the Daba Nayra
camp, which is one of the main hubs receiving newly displaced people.
“We work well and in coordination with other kitchens and
organisations,” Mohamed said. “Each group has its own area or
exclusive region, covering the daily needs based on its capacity or
the kitchen’s size.”
Mohamed said his kitchen began operations in April, with a modest
first meal of lentil porridge. It now provides lunch daily to around
1,200 people, on a 10-day meal plan that includes millet porridge,
oranges, and grilled meat.
The kitchen is run by around a dozen volunteers – some of whom are
displaced themselves – and gives particular attention and care to
vulnerable families who are identified by community leaders for
needing additional support, Mohamed explained.
“We give them special meal cards so they can come anytime – morning,
noon, or evening,” he said. “Unlike others, they are not limited to
one meal per day. Whenever food is ready, they receive their portion.”
Mohamed said his team operates on principles of solidarity and shared
leadership – values common to mutual aid groups: There is no
hierarchy, decisions are made collectively, and team members support
one another when emergencies arise.
Pricey goods and bureaucratic hurdles
Despite the local efforts and the limited support from international
organisations, displaced people, Tawila residents, and civil society
all described conditions in and around the town as the worst in Darfur
and among the worst in the country.
According to NRC, in four camps set up to accommodate new arrivals,
only 10% of people have reliable water access, less than 10% have
access to latrines, and most families report eating one meal a day or
less.
“People here are living in harsh conditions, suffering from pollution
as well as from the sun,” said Ibrahim, the volunteer from El Fasher
who helped launch a kitchen in early 2024.
Ibrahim said the vast majority of children fleeing Zam Zam show signs
of malnutrition, while families struggle to feed themselves with the
meals provided, and women face added burdens due to lost livelihoods.
Volunteers described funding as their biggest challenge, with local
communities overstretched in what they can provide and money from
international donors coming in irregularly.
“We rely on grants from humanitarian organisations, and most kitchens
in Tawila depend on this type of humanitarian funding, which is
neither continuous nor consistent,” said Mohamed, from the Kanouz
kitchen.
“Sometimes, we cannot secure next week’s funding, so we reduce the
quantity served daily or omit some items — for example, removing meat
from a meal,” Mohamed added. “Some kitchens have stopped operating,
and others are working partially.”
Rani Salah Abdullah, who works for the emergency response room in
Tawila, said his group operates without any stockpiles, collecting
water from a few scarce hand pumps, and relying entirely on daily
donations from the community.
“We urgently appeal to international organisations, United Nations
agencies, and philanthropists for immediate intervention,” Rani said.
“We need support for local organisations and initiatives to address
this dire humanitarian situation.”
Mohamed and others also described numerous supply-side challenges.
Tawila is dependent on goods coming from Chad, Libya, and eastern
Sudan, yet roads are regularly blocked by the RSF, and checkpoint
taxes on trucks have driven up prices.
The responders said they are also struggling with a severe cash crunch
as funds sent to their bank accounts or via mobile transfers become
costly to access due to extremely high exchange rates.
Bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the civilian administration controlled
by the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) – the armed group
that is in charge of Tawila – have further complicated relief efforts,
several volunteers said.
They said displaced people arriving in the town must obtain permission
to set up kitchens or join local initiatives, a process that can
involve vetting funding sources and approval from multiple
authorities, including police and intelligence.
Several volunteers who escaped to Tawila described enduring
psychological trauma with little or no support following harassment
and arrests by the RSF and pro-SAF forces in El Fasher and nearby
camps.
Others said the sheer scale of displacement in Tawila and limited
resources have added to their stress, creating a sense of
helplessness. They called for urgent mental health support for
volunteers.
Despite the challenges, none of the responders said they planned to
stop their work. Several spoke of ambitions to expand beyond kitchens,
with ideas ranging from protection initiatives for women and girls to
vocational training for displaced people.
“We have a humanity that does not allow us to stop, because what
affects your brother and sister affects you,” said Ibrahim, the
volunteer from El Fasher. “We too were displaced before and people
stood with us.”
Edited by Philip Kleinfeld.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2025/07/22/darfur-sudan-displacement-epicentre-community-kitchens-shoulder-load-mutual-aid
END
______________________
John Ashworth
ashwor...@gmail.com
+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile, WhatsApp and Signal)
PO Box 403 - 00206, Kiserian, Kenya
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