AFRICA – United Nations agencies on Monday warned of a hunger crisis facing South Sudan, with returnees fleeing the Sudan war expected to have the highest levels of food insecurity. United Nations agencies on Monday warned of a hunger crisis facing South Sudan, with returnees fleeing the Sudan war expected to have the highest levels of food insecurity.

The World Food Program (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the UN Children’s Fund or UNICEF said alarming new food security data from South Sudan, show that 57 percent of the population will be acutely food insecure through the 2025 lean season, with returnees and young children facing some of the highest levels of hunger and malnutrition as economic pressures, climate extremes, and the effects of Sudan’s war worsen hunger.

Meshack Malo, the FAO country representative in South Sudan, said the emergence of the economic crisis and associated high food prices as a key driver of food insecurity sends a powerful message that it is time to collectively ramp up investment in supporting South Sudanese to produce their food.

“This will not only reduce the household food budget but will also create more employment opportunities in the agriculture sector and increase household incomes so that they can seek more healthy diets,” Malo said in a joint statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), released Monday, showed more than 85 percent of returnees fleeing Sudan will be acutely food insecure through the next lean season, starting April 2025. The returnees will also make up almost half of those facing catastrophic hunger, as they struggle to rebuild their lives amid an unprecedented economic crisis, severe flooding, and prioritization of resources as needs outpace funding. According to the report, many communities across South Sudan will continue to struggle as the economic crisis, extreme flooding, prolonged dry spells, and conflict continue to interrupt gains made. (Xinhua)

Photo: Displaced people receive food donations from the World Food Program (WFP) at Akuom Boma.