The Republic of South Sudan was promised 12 million US dollars to address the looming hunger that threatens millions of lives in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Uganda too.
This comes as a response of a meeting of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the G-20, the group of 20 richest nations, in Rome to address the drought in the Horn of African.
Anne Itto, national caretaker minister for agriculture, told journalists this morning upon her arrival from Rome at Juba International Airport that G-20 and FAO are contributing 30 million US dollars for the famine in the Horn of Africa.
She added that 12 million dollars are expected to come to South Sudan.
Dr. Itto explained that she alerted the international community of the imminent danger of hunger in South Sudan.
She said food shortages were caused by what she described as √É”erratic rainfall” and an increase in demand due to the big influx of returnees from Sudan and the neighbouring countries.
Dr. Itto called on local farmers and state authorities to alert the communities of the pending danger should they lose this second season of cultivation that begins in August.
She warned that South Sudan could experience worse food problems between November and December if farmers do not cultivate in this second season.
Dr. Itto appealed to land owners to cultivate maize, cassava and sorghum in order to assure some food since Kenya and Uganda, the traditional suppliers of South Sudan, do not have enough food for themselves this year.
The drought in the Horn of African is the worst in the region in the last 60 years and threatens more than ten million people.