Marhaba,

This is the 42nd issue of Atar English magazine, from Sudan Facts Center for Journalism. It will be coming to you on Monday, every two weeks.

Sudan’s ongoing war, now stretching beyond thirty-one months, has uprooted millions of lives and disrupted the very economic foundations on which communities depend. From Darfur to Kordofan, from al-Fashir to al-Affad, families have fled their homes, leaving behind livestock, crops, and livelihoods in a conflict that shows no sign of mercy. The human toll is immense: children out of school, markets emptied, and herders accused by all sides yet protected by none.

As Mohamed Hussen documents, displacement has redrawn Sudan’s economic geography. Cities and towns that once served as commercial backbones, such as Omdurman, have lost their centrality, giving rise to new hubs in ad-Dabbah, Shandi, and Tandalti. For displaced communities, markets have become more than places of trade—they are lifelines. Yet these lifelines remain fragile, shaped by the ebb and flow of conflict, road closures, and the seizure of goods by armed groups.

Herders, long custodians of Sudan’s pastoral economy, face profound devastation. Mohamed Abdelbagi highlights how nomadic communities encounter suspicion, violence, and theft even as they struggle to protect their flocks. Displacement has become existential: families are forced into harsh, unfamiliar terrain, cut off from water, pasture, and markets, teetering on the brink of starvation. Livestock that once defined wealth and culture, has turned into both a source of survival and a target for war profiteers.

Meanwhile, Najlaa Eltom underscores how international actors have exacerbated the crisis. Europe’s outsourcing of border control to the RSF, intended to contain migration, has inadvertently strengthened the militia now responsible for displacement and market disruption. The war’s economic logic stretches beyond Sudan: supply chains, commodity flows, and trade corridors are weaponized, with displaced communities bearing the brunt.

Digital platforms, as explored by Mohamed Awad in From TikTok to the Cattle Trucks, illustrate how trade has shifted into new spaces: virtual markets, social media networks, and improvised supply chains. These shifts demonstrate both the resilience and precarity of Sudanese livelihoods. Displacement disrupts not only homes but also the economic and social networks essential for daily survival.

The human stories behind these statistics, recounted by Atar Correspondent in From Al-Fashir to Al-Affad, highlight the stakes: women fleeing while pregnant, children separated from parents, and entire families surviving in makeshift camps. Markets, roads, and livestock are not abstract commodities—they are intertwined with life itself. When markets collapse, so too does the fragile social fabric.

Sudan’s war has transformed both people and markets into instruments and victims of violence. Rebuilding the nation will require more than ceasefires; it demands attention to the ways displacement reshapes economies, societies, and communities. Policymakers, humanitarian organizations, and international actors must recognize that safeguarding livelihoods is inseparable from protecting people. The world must move beyond counting refugees and stolen goods and prioritize spaces where life—and trade—can resume with dignity.

Sudanese communities have endured displacement, theft, and the collapse of markets for too long. Survival depends on more than aid: it requires restoring the conditions for feeding families, trading goods, and rebuilding society. In Sudan, displaced people and displaced markets are inseparable. Protecting one ensures the protection of the other.

Atar Editorial Team