United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported that staggering 2.5 million South Sudanese remain in food insecurity emergency level and another 3.9 million in food security state are likely to slip into crisis emergency if livelihood support, security and markets fail.
In a statement, FAO South Sudan Representative Sue Lautze lamented that “missed crop cycles in conflict-ravaged parts of the country means households now expect food stocks to run out by March 2015.
The statement added that food crisis is expected to deepen and the risk of a dramatic deterioration would be the greatest between April and July when the lean season reaches its peak.
Ms Lautze lamented that Warrap, Lakes, Western, Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Equatoria States’ lack of infrastructure, inputs and technology limit their productivity to produce enough food to sustain the rest of the country.
FAO is urgently seeking an additional 32 million Dollars to invest in humanitarian aid and boost food production and local economies in stable areas to support recovery in South Sudan.