JUBA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- United Nations agencies on Monday warned of a hunger crisis facing South Sudan, with returnees fleeing the Sudan war expected to have the highest levels of food insecurity.
The World Food Program (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said alarming new food security data from South Sudan shows that 57 percent of the population will be acutely food insecure through the 2025 lean season, with returnees and young children facing some of the highest levels of hunger and malnutrition as economic pressures, climate extremes, and the effects of Sudan's war worsening hunger.
Meshack Malo, FAO country representative in South Sudan, said the emergence of the economic crisis and associated high food prices as a key driver of food insecurity sends a powerful message that it is time to collectively ramp up investment in supporting South Sudanese to produce their own food.
"This will not only reduce the household food budget but will also create more employment opportunities in the agriculture sector and increase household incomes so that they can seek more healthy diets," Malo said in a joint statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), released on Monday, shows more than 85 percent of returnees fleeing Sudan will be acutely food insecure through the next lean season, starting April 2025. The returnees will also make up almost half of those facing catastrophic hunger, as they struggle to rebuild their lives amidst an unprecedented economic crisis, severe flooding, and prioritization of resources as needs outpace funding.
According to the report, many communities across South Sudan will continue to struggle as the economic crisis, extreme flooding, prolonged dry spells, and conflict continue to interrupt gains made.
"Year after year we see hunger reaching some of the highest levels we've seen in South Sudan and when we look at the areas with the highest levels of food insecurity, it's clear that a cocktail of despair, conflict, and the climate crisis are the main drivers," said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP country director and representative in South Sudan.
The IPC also indicates that the impact of concurrent crises in South Sudan is far-reaching. The overall number of people facing acute food insecurity is projected to increase to almost 7.7 million, or 57 percent of the population, through the next lean season, up from 7.1 million this year.
Almost 2.1 million children are at risk of malnutrition, up from 1.65 million, the report said, citing illness as a major contributing factor to the children's malnutrition. Almost half of all children included in the data collected had been ill in the two previous weeks.
Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF representative in South Sudan, said malnutrition is the result of a series of crises, and that most notable for South Sudan is ongoing poor sanitation and prevalence of waterborne diseases, alongside severe food insecurity.
"UNICEF is deeply concerned that the number of children and mothers at risk of malnutrition will continue to increase unless efforts to prevent malnutrition by addressing its root causes are scaled up, alongside the provision of immediate nutrition support to treat malnutrition among children who are at higher risk of death," Lasseko said. ■