About 18 million people are currently facing crisis (IPC 3) or emergency (IPC 4) levels of food insecurity across Sudan. This means more than one in three people are suffering from acute hunger in the country. As the conflict rages on, food insecurity is rapidly deteriorating, and communities in many parts of the country are being pushed to starvation. Urgent action is required to help people access food through local markets and ensure that market actors can continue to operate, providing a lifeline for those facing high levels of food insecurity. Some initiatives – such as the Cash Consortium of Sudan – are already reaching people across the country with much needed cash, but the lack of dedicated funding to cash programming limits the reach and impact of these interventions. Therefore, donors and operational agencies alike should urgently adopt a cash-first approach, making cash programming the central pillar of the humanitarian response in Sudan.