Sudan has dropped out of the global hunger-monitoring system just as it was about to issue a report that is expected to show famine spreading across the country.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is due to publish a survey on Tuesday that shows famine affecting five areas. The shortages could expand to 10 by May, the report says. “This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict and poor humanitarian access,” says a briefing document seen by the Reuters news agency.

But authorities in Sudan accuse the IPC of bias. "Sudan is withdrawing from the IPC system because the IPC is issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity,” the agriculture minister said in a letter.

Sudan’s withdrawal could undermine humanitarian efforts to help millions of people suffering from extreme hunger.

The IPC, an independent body funded by Western nations, and overseen by 19 large humanitarian organisations and intergovernmental institutions, is designed to sound the alarm about food crises so organisations can respond and prevent famine and mass starvation. But the IPC in Sudan has struggled to function since a civil war broke out in April 2023, with fighting between the army-backed government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary disrupting data collection in areas controlled by both sides.

The agriculture minister’s letter was addressed to the IPC and its Famine Review Committee, which vets and verifies a famine finding, as well as to diplomats. It says the report lacks updated malnutrition data and assessments of crop productivity during the recent summer rainy season. The growing season was successful, the letter says. It also notes serious concerns about the IPC’s ability to collect data from territories controlled by the RSF.

Reuters found evidence that the government obstructed the IPC’s work earlier this year in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people, where some have resorted to eating tree leaves to survive.