Together with the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA), the team has edited a blog series on ‘The politics of food and technology’ based on their IHSA conference panel.

After several weeks of mass starvation in Gaza dominating global television coverage, news reports of similar conditions in Sudan’s El Fasher, once Darfur’s capital, are finally emerging. Both regions remain under siege, with starvation deployed as a weapon for the purpose of emptying and occupying them.

This article argues that the digitalisation of food assistance mimics aspects of colonialism, especially in terms of the asymmetries involved in the extraction of data (as a valuable resource) from vulnerable populations and the dominating role of US-based multinationals.

A freedom of information request has revealed that an AI system used by the UK government for assessing benefits cases is apparently getting it wrong by a “statistically significant” amount.

In this blog, IHSA Vice-President and Senior Research Fellow at the Food Studies Centre at SOAS (University of London) Susanne Jaspars summarises and expands upon a contribution to the roundtable that followed the inaugural IHSA Annual Lecture on “War and Humanity” held in Bergen in May 2024.

The past two decades have seen an acceleration in the digitalisation of food assistance and social welfare.

Sudan has experienced a catastrophic increase in violence since 15 April, particularly in Darfur and in the capital Khartoum.

يشهد السودان تصاعداً مهولاً في العنف الدائر بالبلاد، منذ ١٥ أبريل الماضي، تحديداً في دارفور وفي العاصمة الخرطوم. ترك الصراع العنيف بين قوات الدعم السريع شبه العسكرية، والقوات المسلحة السودانية للسيطرة على البلاد ومواردها، أثراً بالغاً على حيوات معظم سكان السودان. وعلى الرغم من أن هذه المعركة تبدو للوهلة الأولى وكأنها حدثاً طارئاً ، إلا أن الواقع الحالي يقتضي النظر إليها كتكثيف لنشاط الاقتصاد السياسي السوداني الاستخراجي (الريعي)، بجانب استخدام المليشيا في خوض الحروب الداخلية السودانية

The current crisis in Sudan has deep roots. Seemingly erupting suddenly, it has in fact been a long time coming. Sudan is a highly unequal country – socially, politically, and economically, along geographical, ethnic and class axes.

The 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic have dramatically accelerated the use of digital technologies to respond to food insecurity and humanitarian crises.

لأول مرة في عقود من الزمان أصبح للسودان فرصة حقيقية لتحقيق التغيير السياسي والإقتصادي. لقد أدت ثورة ديسمبر لعام 2019 إلى تشكيل حكومة إنتقالية عازمة على دعم حقوق الإنسان والمفاوضات السلمية بالإضافة إلى عقدها لإنتخابات ديمقراطية. إن البرمجة بصورة مراعية للنزاعات مهمة في هذه الفترة وذلك لعدة أسباب: 1. يمر السودان بعدة أزمات متداخلة بعضها سياسية وأخرى إقتصادية أو صحية، بالإضافة إلى النزاعات المتواصلة وعمليات النزوح المطولة بدارفور، زيادة على تدفقات اللاجئين. 2. إن المعونات الغذائية جزء مهم من المساعدات الإنسانية وقد تم التلاعب بها بصورة كبيرة في الماضي. 3. إن البيئة السياسية الجديدة تفتح الفرصة لتحقيق أقصى قدر ممكن من الآثار الإيجابية للمساعدات الغذائية.

For the first time in decades, Sudan has a real opportunity for political and economic change. The 2019 revolution resulted in a transitional government committed to promoting human rights, negotiating peace and holding democratic elections.

Together with partners The Food Foundation, Yasmin Houamed, Susanne Jaspars, and Iris Lim produced this policy brief based on their research on the effects of digitalising food assistance and welfare in the UK.

In this blog, Yasmin Houamed writes about how the digitalisation is reshaping the food assistance landscape and argues that the expansion of "hubs" and ‘wrap-around' services risks normalising emergency food aid.

Political economy and experiences of digitalised food assistance

This working paper presents findings for the second, in-depth phase of the research in Sudan. It focuses on the experience of marginalised populations in different parts of the country, as well as how digital food assistance practices interact with political and economic processes

In May 2026, the team submitted evidence to the Right to Food UK Commission. It highlights how access to food and related welfare support increasingly depends on digital infrastructure, devices, design and skills; and that digital exclusion serves as a barrier to realising the right to food in practice.

This working paper presents findings for the second, in-depth phase of the research in England. It focuses on the experience of marginalised populations as well as how digital food assistance practices interact with political and economic processes.

Together with the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA), the team has edited a blog series on ‘The politics of food and technology’ based on their IHSA conference panel.

After several weeks of mass starvation in Gaza dominating global television coverage, news reports of similar conditions in Sudan’s El Fasher, once Darfur’s capital, are finally emerging. Both regions remain under siege, with starvation deployed as a weapon for the purpose of emptying and occupying them.

This article argues that the digitalisation of food assistance mimics aspects of colonialism, especially in terms of the asymmetries involved in the extraction of data (as a valuable resource) from vulnerable populations and the dominating role of US-based multinationals.

This working paper reports on phase I – the exploratory phase – of ESRC-funded research into the effects of digitalising food assistance in India.

This working paper examines the digitalisation of food assistance in the UK, focusing on its implementation, challenges, and socio-political implications.

This photo series by Tamer Abd Elkreem and Susanne Jaspars illustrates how the takaya, or community kitchens, evolved as the main life-saving intervention in Sudan during the war, and the role of social media and digital money transfers to support them.

In India, marginal farmers (< 1 hectare of land) and small farmers (1-2 hectares of land) own 86% of the total agrarian holdings. In the state of Chhattisgarh two-thirds of the farmers belong to this category. Digitalisation in agriculture has been positioned as beneficial to this group of smallholders.

This photo series by Tamer Abd Elkreem and Susanne Jaspars illustrates how Starlink private internet provision has been normalised and weaponised during the war. 

As food assistance goes digital, vulnerable people risk being shut out. Iris Lim presents some of the key findings of our UK research in this short 8 minute pod bite produced together with the Food Foundation. 

This photo series explores the everyday practices and improvised adaptations that arise as welfare and social support systems move increasingly online.

In this podcast, Dr Susanne Jaspars and Dr Tamer Abd Elkreem speak with Amnesty International Students Rotterdam about the ongoing crisis in Sudan.