Over 7 million people in South Sudan likely to face acute food insecurity between now, July, UN says

UNITED NATIONS — More than 7 million people in South Sudan are expected to face acute food insecurity or worse during the “lean season” between now and July, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report on Tuesday.

The FAO said the highest prevalence of acute hunger, ranging between 65% and 75% of the population, is reported in the northern states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, in the Pibor area in the east near the border with Ethiopia, and among South Sudanese. who returns from war-torn Sudan.

The Rome-based agency expressed particular concern for the 79,000 people facing the highest catastrophic levels of food insecurity and famine. 11,000 people are said to be in the Pibor area, 40,000 in Aweil East County in northern Bahr el Ghazal state, and 28,000 South Sudanese who have fled Sudan’s years-long conflict and are scattered across the country.

According to the FAO, the main causes of “the poor food security situation” are persistent economic challenges that have led to high inflation, “insufficient food supplies, the lingering impact of successive years of widespread flooding and episodes of intercommunal violence.”

The landlocked country is facing an economic crisis due to a drop in oil exports after war-torn Sudan declared force majeure on oil shipments – South Sudan’s main export – passing through the country in March. The fighting in Sudan has affected shipments destined for a terminal near Port Sudan along the Red Sea coast.

The world’s newest country, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, is also struggling to integrate rival armed forces, draft a new constitution and prepare for postponed first elections in December 2024.