UN says majority in South Sudan will be food insecure next year
Data from a UN-backed review on November 18th warns that almost 60% of the population of South Sudan will be acutely food insecure next year, according to the Arab News via AFP.
The review also warns that two million children will be at risk of malnutrition, with the country grappling with its worst flooding in decades and an influx of refugees fleeing the war in Sudan.
The latest review from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that 57% of the South Sudanese population would be suffering from acute food insecurity from April.
The United Nations defines acute food insecurity as when a “person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.”
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The IPC says that almost 7.7 million people will be classed as a cutely food insecure, an increase from 7.1 million in the last lean season.
“Year after year we see hunger reaching some of the highest levels we’ve seen in South Sudan,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan.
“When we look at the areas with the highest levels of food insecurity, it’s clear that a cocktail of despair — conflict and the climate crisis — are the main drivers,” she added.
Over 85% of the refugees from Sudan will be acutely food insecure from the next lean season in April.
In addition, the data found that 2.1 million children are at risk of malnutrition, aggravated by a lack of safe drinking water and sanitation.
“Malnutrition is the end result of a series of crises,” said UNICEF representative in South Sudan Hamida Lasseko, adding that the agency was “deeply concerned” that the numbers would increase if there was not a step up in aid.
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The World Bank warned in October that widespread flooding was “worsening an already critical humanitarian situation.”
UN humanitarian agency OCHA said earlier this month that 1.4 million people had been impacted by the flooding, which had displaced almost 380,000 people.
AFP, UN News
