Collapsing currency and inflation leave families struggling in Sudan

Port Sudan, Sudan – Aisha pours another cup of tea at her makeshift outdoor stand, hoping the day’s sales will help keep her family afloat.

The 27-year-old sells tea and coffee in Sudan’s second-largest city, Port Sudan, trying to provide for her parents and four brothers in a country now in its fourth year of war .

The conflict has led to a plunge in the value of the Sudanese pound and rising costs for transportation and essential goods. Those aren’t just abstract economic indicators for Aisha: they’re reflected in the widening gap between what she earns and what her family needs each month.

“Before the war, a cup of coffee cost 1,000 Sudanese pounds ($1.70 at pre-war rates),” Aisha told Al Jazeera. “I could earn about 30,000 pounds a day ($50) and that was enough to cover my family’s needs.”

Aisha now charges 3,000 pounds ($0.40 at current rates) for coffee and 1,500 pounds ($0.20) for tea, earning between 70,000 pounds ($9.30) and 100,000 pounds ($13.30) a day. But that increase in earnings has been swallowed by rising costs – both for her business and the day-to-day expenses she needs to feed and house her family.

Before the war, she was able to buy five pieces of bread for 1,000 pounds ($0.10) but that same amount now only buys her three. The cost of a kilogram of sugar has risen from 4,000 pounds ($0.45) to 7,000 pounds ($0.90). Her daily transportation costs from her home to her coffee and tea stand have now quadrupled.

Beef now costs 68,000 pounds ($9) per kilogram – far outside her budget. Even lentils, a more affordable staple, now costs about 16,000 pounds ($2.10) a kilogram.

Healthcare and education costs have also risen, adding another layer of pressure for families already exhausted by years of war.