War drives South Sudan to starvation
SOUTH SUDAN: The South Sudanese government and humanitarian agencies have declared a famine in parts of the country, which has been devastated by three years of war.
The announcement comes as international aid agencies are overwhelmed by catastrophes unfolding in four countries.
The United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan said yesterday that 100,000 people were ‘‘already starving’’ in the country. In some areas in Unity state, in the north of the country, more than 30 per cent of the population is suffering acute malnutrition.
UN humanitarian agencies warned that 275,000 children were at risk of starving to death unless there was a rapid increase in humanitarian aid.
‘‘Many families have exhausted every means they have to survive,’’ said Serge Tissot, the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s representative for South Sudan.
Those affected ‘‘are predominantly farmers, and war has disrupted agriculture’’, he said. ‘‘They’ve lost their livestock, even their farming tools. For months there has been a total reliance on whatever plants they can find and fish they can catch.’’
The United States Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently warned of an ‘‘unprecedented’’ need for emergency food assistance globally, with four famines or threatened famines. There is famine in parts of Nigeria and South Sudan, and famine threatens in Somalia and Yemen.
Internationally, the need is staggering: 70 million people in 45 countries will need food aid this year, according to the US network.
The two worst crises - in Nigeria and South Sudan - are man-made, caused by fighting and insecurity. In other countries, such as Somalia, the worst drought in decades has led to successive crop failures and mass deaths of cows, goats, sheep and other animals.
Nearly 5 million South Sudanese, or 42 per cent of the population, are facing dire hunger or starvation, according to the Integrated Food Security report.