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Sudan

The Higher Council for Food Security and Nutrition


Sudan's arrangements combine a political Higher Council for Food Security and Nutrition with a technical committee of undersecretaries and a technical secretariat that prepares national policy and plans.

Institutional set-up and structure

The Higher Council was established in 2015, with the Technical Committee and the Technical Secretariat following in 2017. The Council sits at political level under the Prime Minister. The Technical Committee is chaired by a state minister at the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and brings together undersecretaries from finance, agriculture, commerce, animal resources, water resources, education, and welfare and social security. The Technical Secretariat draws in the ministries of agriculture, water, health and education, alongside the humanitarian affairs commission and the strategic reserve directorate.

Mandate and decision-making power

The Council supervises food security and nutrition interventions between national and state institutions, endorses policy, strategy and situation reports and presents them to Cabinet, supports state governments to establish coordination mechanisms, and endorses annual implementation priorities. The Technical Committee submits reports, plans and policies to the Council, approves cooperation protocols, coordinates data collection and analysis on food insecurity, and advises ministries. The Technical Secretariat prepares comprehensive national food security policies and a national work plan, and proposes emergency interventions.

Across its three bodies, the Council is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; deciding on goals and strategic priorities

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating policy development; developing policies for consideration by the relevant authorities; deciding and enacting them

  • Implementation: coordinating policy and programme delivery

  • Monitoring and evaluation: tracking progress, evaluating and reporting

Who is involved

  • Council: political level, chaired from the office of the Prime Minister

  • Technical Committee: undersecretaries from finance and national economy, agriculture and irrigation, commerce, animal resources, fisheries and pastures, water resources and electricity, education, and welfare and social security

  • Technical Secretariat: agriculture, water resources, health and education, with the humanitarian affairs commission and the strategic reserve directorate

How it works in practice

  • The Technical Committee submits reports, plans and policies upward to the Council

  • The Council presents endorsed policy, strategy and situation reports to Cabinet

  • The Technical Secretariat coordinates data collection and analysis on food insecurity across institutions

  • Support is provided to state governments to establish their own coordination mechanisms


Evidence base: policy documents only, 2026. Last updated: September 2026.

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