The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that some 3.7 million people in South Sudan were severely food insecure.
FAO’s reported unveiled on Monday said that an increasing number of South Sudanese will continue to face difficulty in meeting daily food needs in the coming months despite harvests.
According to Africa Review , the agency said 31 per cent of South Sudanese faced hunger, an increase of 1 million people compared to the same period last year.
Though harvests have provided some reprieve, the report warned that the benefits will be short lived as local stocks will deplete rapidly.
“Following seasonal patterns food insecurity levels in 2017 is destined to rapidly deteriorate to massive proportions. The risk of famine is increasingly real, especially for South Sudan’s most vulnerable communities,” the report reads.
“The renewed violence has had severe repercussions on agricultural production and stability needs to be restored to enable farmers to return to their fields.
“We are seeing an unprecedented number of food insecure people at harvest time and many more people at risk of starvation in the months to come as stocks run out. There is a need to act now to prevent a catastrophe,” the report said.
The Equatoria region, which generates over half of the country’s net cereal production, has been severely impacted by the recent violence.
“In active conflict areas, an estimated 50 per cent of all harvests have been lost and even more farmers were unable to plant for the second season due to insecurity. The displacement of people from those areas is also due to have profound effects on agricultural production,” the report reveals.
Moreover, of grave concern is the most fragile areas Northern Bahr el-Ghazal where the structural drivers of food insecurity, including the protracted economic crisis, market failure and the loss or depletion of livelihood assets have continued to escalate.
FAO’s harvest assessments findings show that farmers in this area have produced less than last year, with some areas being hard-hit by flooding and dry spells, raising their vulnerability.
The report highlights Aweil East where sorghum production almost halved, dropping from 0.9 to 0.5 tonnes.
Since the outbreak of fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba and other parts of the country, cereal prices have increased by more than 500 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Trade has been crippled by rampant insecurity along the main trade routes and traders’ inability to access hard currency for imports forcing them to close-down their businesses.
