FAMILIES in Sudan’s embattled western Darfur region have finally received an emergency increase in food aid that is much needed to help avert looming famine, the UN food agency has said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in an update on Thursday that five convoys carrying 5,000 tons of food aid have crossed from neighbouring Chad into Darfur since the beginning of 2024.

Some aid trucks entered the region on June 10 and completed deliveries in southern Darfur on Thursday, Leni Kinzli, the head of communications at WFP’s Sudan office, said. Distribution was continuing in central and western Darfur.