United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO emergency rapid response team launched an air operation to deliver livelihood aid to sixty thousand food insecure households in hard-to-reach areas of northern Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile States.
FAO South Sudan Representative Serge Tissot in a statement on Thursday said it is the first time to scale up emergency operations by deploying helicopters which offer them the flexibility and independence need to realize timely delivery of aid.
He said FAO is using a livelihood kit of two kilogram with one kit containing seven varieties of vegetable seeds and fishing materials for this operation and that each kit has the potential to increase food intake and combat the high rates of malnutrition by diversifying diets.
Mr Tissot said FAO was able to deliver over 29 thousand kits with more being provided every day and that it would continue carrying out livestock disease outbreak control missions where teams with drugs and vaccines are deployed in high-risk areas and extracted after some time.
He said their presence on the ground is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes which is just enough time to handover the inputs to their partners on the ground.
FAO Emergency Response Manager for South Sudan Abdul Karim Bah said in many parts of South Sudan the rainy season is hampering access by road and that air operation is the only way to reach communities.
He cautioned that at the moment millions of people face severe food insecurity and malnutrition rates are soaring.