Nov. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations has warned this Thursday that the levels of severe food insecurity in South Sudan are at their highest levels, exceeding the figures recorded during the conflict, a situation accentuated by climate change, which has caused floods and droughts in recent months. in the African country.
The agency has highlighted in a statement that about two-thirds of the population, which is equivalent to about 7.8 million people, could suffer from acute food insecurity between April and July 2023, including 1.4 million malnourished children, while pointing out that some communities could face famine if international humanitarian aid is not increased.
Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) have explained that the percentage of people in the highest level of Food insecurity and malnutrition exceed the figures seen in 2013 and 2016, something they have blamed on the combined impact of conflict, poor macroeconomic conditions, extreme weather events and rising food and fuel costs.
“We have been in famine prevention mode all year and we have prevented the worst results, but it is not enough,” said the director of the WFP in South Sudan, Makena Walker, who explained that the country “is at the forefront of the climate crisis”. “Day by day, families lose their homes, livestock, fields and hope due to extreme weather,” she has said.
“Without humanitarian aid at the food level, millions more people will find themselves in an increasingly difficult situation and unable to meet the most basic food needs of their families,” he stressed, a line in which the representative of the FAO in the country, Meshack Malo, who has argued that “support for livelihoods is necessary to facilitate the resilience of South Sudan at the level of food production”.
Malo has stated that “the potential exists, given that 840,000 tons of cereals were produced in 2021, in a difficult year due to climate change, floods, conflict and other factors.” “With the current cereal deficit, which is 541,000 tons, urgent investment in rural areas is necessary to increase production and the level of self-sufficiency,” he defended.
For his part, the UNICEF representative in South Sudan, Jesper Moller, stressed that “over the last three years, floods have dramatically affected a growing number of people” in the country and detailed that “among the impacted are a growing number of malnourished or food insecure children that the international community cannot ignore.
“To effectively protect children from the effects of climate change, we must ensure that we reach the most vulnerable children with an essential package of multisectoral interventions at the social service level,” he argued.
Finally, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, has argued that the report “is key to formulating humanitarian response plans to help meet the needs of the population in the country.” “These figures show that the population of South Sudan needs help more than ever. It is crucial to receive commitments from donors by 2023 in order to avoid a worsening of the humanitarian situation in the country”, she has settled.
