Nearly five million South Sudanese are experiencing food shortages and among them one million risks hunger due to a bad harvest, displacement and high commodity prices.
The alert comes from the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission done by FAO, the UN agency for food and agriculture, and WFP, the World Food Programme.The report presented today in Juba says that this year’s cereal production is 470,000 tons bellow the national food needs.
WFP Deputy Country Director Eddie Rowe said told CRN News that something has to be done quickly in order to prevent the catastrophe of one million civilians going hungry.
He urged donors to support WFP in order to transport food immediately to areas that will be cut off during the rainy season.
South Sudan UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande described the food deficit in South Sudan as a gigantic problem.
She added that it demands a massive and well coordinated operation to feed the people short of food in South Sudan.
Ms Grande said the situation is very serious and cannot be overlooked.
The report also revealed that if local conflicts continue to displace population and food prices keep on shooting up, the number of severely food insecure could rise from 1 million to 2.2 million.
The states bordering the Republic of the Sudan, together with Jonglei, are the most affected areas by food deficit due to insecurity.
FAO and WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission was conducted in October and November at the request of the national agriculture and forestry ministry.