While global attention is focused on Ukraine, WFP In a press release, a “hidden famine emergency” is engulfing South Sudan with some 8.3 million people there – including refugees – facing extreme hunger. in the coming months.
According to the latest findings published in the journal 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview.
Particularly at risk are tens of thousands of South Sudanese who are already severely hungry after successive and successive shocks and could starve to death without food assistance.
‘Ring of Fire’
South Sudan forms part of the ‘ring of fire’ that surrounds the globe, where climate shocks, conflict, COVID-19The UN’s emergency food aid agency says rising costs are bringing millions closer to starvation.
The impacts of the climate crisis and ongoing conflict have resulted in large-scale displacement, loss of livelihoods, destruction of arable land and crops as well as rising food prices, threatening the survival of the world. of communities living in some of the most isolated areas of South Sudan in the states of Jonglei, Lakes, Unity and Warrap.
“The magnitude and depth of this crisis is disturbing. We see people across the country who have exhausted all of their available options for a living and now have nothing left,” said Adeyinka Badejo, World Food Program Deputy Country Director for South America. Sudan said.
Turn the situation around because of hunger
While providing critical food and nutritional support to meet the immediate needs of populations at risk, WFP also undertakes resilience-building activities to help communities These coppers deal with unexpected shocks without losing all of their productive assets.
Badejo added: “Given the gravity of this crisis, our resources allow us to reach only a few of the people most in need with the bare minimum of survival. “WFP is working tirelessly not only to meet these immediate needs, but also to assist communities in restoring their own resilience and better prepare to face new shocks.”
Nearly 6 million reached
In 2021, WFP reached 5.9 million people receiving food and nutrition assistance, including more than 730,000 people in South Sudan benefiting from livelihood activities.
In Dai Jonglei and the United States, where unprecedented floods and local conflicts prevent people from reaching their fields, WFP has provided people with cash assistance to buy food and other basic needs. , which provides communities with the tools to protect and maintain critical assets, and trains youth in food-related programs, including post-harvest management.
© WFP / Gabriela Vivacqua
Bags of split peas are transported to Jonglei State via the White Nile in South Sudan.
Projects in this area
To help communities prepare for the impact of flooding, WFP has built levees in at-risk areas like Bor in Bang Jonglei, where the construction of an 18-kilometer fence has helped thousands of families. have to relocate back to their home.
WFP has also begun restoring an important road flooded after the devastating flood that hit Bentiu in Unity State, where many people are still displaced.
In areas not affected by floodwaters, WFP has worked with community members to clear and cultivate more than 40,000 acres of land to grow food, giving smallholder farmers more autonomy year round. .
“Investing in resilience is an important step in helping communities find their way out of poverty and hunger. While we are on their side to address their most immediate challenges, we must also work closely with the Government and other development partners to find more permanent solutions to some of them. The chronic problem facing South Sudan – addressing longstanding inequality and isolation and restoring conditions for peace and stability,” said Ms. Badejo.
