South Sudan will face escalating food crisis in 2017, UN agriculture agency warns

08:58, 8 November 2016

UNITED NATIONS. KAZINFORM As the conflict in South Sudan grinds on, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today that 31 per cent of the country's population, or 3.7 million people, are facing a severe food security risk, despite the end of the lean food season and start of harvests - a major increase from the one million who were in a similar situation at this time last year.

This time of year in South Sudan, people generally are more secure due to higher food stocks and lower market prices, but the FAO warned that the risk of famine is looming, especially for the most vulnerable communities.

“The renewed violence has had severe repercussions on agricultural production and stability needs to be restored to enable farmers to return to their fields,” said Serge Tissot, FAO representative.

“We are seeing an unprecedented number of food insecure people at harvest time and many more people at risk of starvation in the months to come as stocks run out. There is a need to act now to prevent a catastrophe,” he urged.

Part of the reason for the growing insecurity is due to the violence that has impacted the Equatoria region, which is responsible for over half of South Sudan’s net cereal production. About 50 per cent of all harvests have been lost in areas affected by the violence. Many farmers have been unable to plant seeds for the second season due to not only armed conflict, but also displaced persons.