Food insecurity is fostered by ongoing violence in South Sudan

Food assistance delivered by the World Food Programme in Dome, South Sudan Food assistance delivered by the World Food Programme in Dome, South Sudan WFP / Gabriela Vivacqua

23 July 2020

Seven years of civil war in South Sudan displaced more than 60.000 people and resulted in a major food crisis 

Last week, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) expressed their deep concern about the civil war in South Sudan - entering its seventh year in 2020 - and the fact that it will further aggravate the country’s food insecurity in the next months. As a consequence of the ongoing violence, farmers are prevented from cultivating their fields and livestock keepers are not able to follow their grazing patterns. In addition, cattle raiding and looting of humanitarian agencies’ food supplies are depriving entire communities of their source of nutrition. 

South Sudan’s food crisis is even more acute during the country’s annual lean season, during the summertime, with more than half the entire population (6.5 million people) dealing with severe food insecurity.

The country’s drastic situation was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic which, due to movement restrictions, negatively affected the flow of goods between neighbour countries and South Sudan. As the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) forecasts, the country’s situation will get even worse between July 2020 and January 2021, with an increased risk of flooding due to the heavy rainfall estimated in the next months. 

The food crisis could be alleviated only through constant humanitarian assistance, which has been hampered by the continuous fightings. For instance, even though in May 2020 the UN World Food Programme provided food assistance to 1.53 million people in South Sudan, more than 430 metric tons of the organization’s food supplies have been raided as its warehouses were looted. The UN Security Council expressed concern for the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, underlying the need for the parties to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance. 

 

To read more, please visit: 

https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14248.doc.htm

https://www.rescue.org/country/south-sudan#what-are-the-main-humanitarian-challenges-in-south-sudan

http://www.fao.org/south-sudan/news/detail-events/en/c/1300205/

https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000117860/download/?_ga=2.264581641.729745234.1595685962-370132742.1565255196

 

Author: Margherita Curti; Editor: Matteo Consiglio

 

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