Sudan: Research Terms of Reference - Joint Rapid Assessment of Markets (JRAM), SDN2504, May 2025, V1

Excerpt

2. Rationale

2.1 Background

After more than two years of relentless conflict, Sudan is facing what is considered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in scale.2 An estimated 30 million people urgently require assistance, while 25 million are experiencing acute food insecurity. Although more than 1.3 million displaced people returned to their areas of origin between November 2024 and June 2025, the overall displaced population still exceeds 10 million.

The country continues to suffer under multiple, overlapping emergencies, as the protracted armed conflict deepens the effects of recurrent disease outbreaks, severe food insecurity, and widespread flooding. The rainy season, which runs from June to October, has already caused devastating floods that are destroying critical infrastructure, fueling the spread of waterborne diseases, blocking major routes, and severely limiting humanitarian access to vulnerable communities.

In Khartoum State, basic services have effectively collapsed after more than two years of fighting. Water systems in many localities are non-functional, electricity supply is intermittent, and most health facilities remain closed or destroyed. While access conditions improved slightly between March and May 2025 following SAF’s full control of the state, bureaucratic impediments continue to hinder relief efforts. Nevertheless, humanitarian partners managed to reach an estimated 1.6million people with some form of assistance between January and June 2025.

Markets are barely functioning, and the formal banking system remains largely inaccessible, further limiting communities’ coping capacities. Community kitchens—an essential safety net for displaced and host populations—are also under strain, with only 65 out of 80 operational in Umbadda, and 155 out of 215 in Sharg Al Nil, according to local Mutual Aid Groups (MAGs)6. Against this backdrop, humanitarian needs across food security, health, WASH, and protection are deepening, leaving millions of Sudanese at heightened risk as the crisis continues to escalate.

Since December 2023, the Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI) conducted in coordination between IMPACT and the Sudan Cash Working Group (CWG), monitored markets in key localities across different states in Sudan, and continuously worked on expanding the coverage thanks to the contribution of local International and National NGOs. Over the past 15 months, results suggested variable impacts on markets, largely dependent on regional stability and proximity to areas of intense conflict such as Khartoum. While the exact extent and nature of these impacts remain uncertain, it is evident that markets and the liquidity of cash have been significantly impacted by the conflict, with supply chains and market infrastructures likely being extensively disrupted due to the sustained conflict exposure.

To address the outlined information gaps and consolidate existing data collection efforts, IMPACT will work in close collaboration with Acted to launch a Joint Rapid Assessment of Markets (JRAM) in Khartoum state to capture the effects of conflict-related shocks to markets. Subsequent JRAMs might be completed on an ad-hoc basis to capture market functionality and dynamics in areas limitedly covered or affected by shocks .

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