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Paper short abstract

When aid disappears, communities step in. Drawing on 35 interviews with youth volunteers in Khartoum, this paper examines community kitchens as lifelines that reimagine service delivery and development as dignity, care, and survival under armed conflict.

Paper long abstract

This paper looks at community kitchens in Khartoum during active armed conflict, when the state and international aid were largely absent. It is based on 35 interviews with young volunteers, mostly under 25 years old, from seven provinces of Khartoum. The interviews were conducted in March and April 2025, during a period of severe food shortage and insecurity.

The paper argues that community kitchens became an important form of service delivery in crisis. They were not formal organizations, but small, informal groups of youth who felt responsible for protecting their communities. Volunteers did not describe their work as charity. Instead, they spoke about humanity, duty, and the impossibility of watching people die from hunger. The kitchens relied mainly on popular efforts and donations, including support from Sudanese living abroad. Most of them could only provide one meal per day, often only two days a week, while the number of people in need increased every day.

The paper also discusses the difficulties and tensions faced by volunteers, especially when food finished while people were still waiting. Women often came with their faces covered, and sometimes families sent only children to collect food because of shame or insecurity. These moments show how power, exclusion, and difficult decisions were negotiated at the community level.

The paper suggests that community kitchens should be understood as grassroots service delivery systems that reimagine development as collective survival, care, and dignity in times of deep uncertainty.