South Sudan on brink of famine: Aid workers warn

By Okech Francis

JUBA 

Hard hit by a protracted political crisis, a humanitarian crisis and a bad weather season, South Sudan seems to be standing on the brink of famine, aid workers in the world's youngest nation have warned.

"Generally, it is more than one million people who are in real need of food," director of relief and food security at the state-run South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) Lexson Wari Amozai told Anadolu Agency.

Other agencies put the figure at a staggering 3.9 million people.

A recent report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has raised the alarm about signs of an impending food security crisis in the country as food reserves are exhausted in areas cut off by the lingering conflict.

It said key commodities – including powdered milk and sugar – are now hard to find.

South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow his regime.

Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese have since been displaced in subsequent fighting, while large swathes of the population continue to face an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.

"I am really very sorry that this situation has made people who have never before been hit by hunger now face food insecurity," Amozai told AA.

"The situation is not stable; it is difficult," he said. "We cannot reach areas where the rebels are. We can only reach government-controlled areas."

The official went on to say that the lack of an adequate humanitarian response, the political crisis, and heavy rains had put many people in the affected regions out of the relief commission's reach.

"There is inaccessibility due to insecurity and there is inaccessibility due to the rains," he said.

Amozai added that the SSRRC does not have ownership of the food and non-food items for immediate response.

"We have to lobby with humanitarian partners and this sometimes [causes] delays," he explained.

The FAO report cited several factors of concern that threaten to exacerbate food availability and access problems throughout 2014 and into 2015.

These include the abandonment and looting of livelihood assets; disrupted agricultural cycles; constraints to aid access; the collapse of local markets; the disruption of commodity supply corridors; and the risk of a missed planting season (from March to July).

The most affected states are Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, where between 45 and 70 percent of the population are facing a crisis or emergency, it noted.

The most affected populations, meanwhile, are internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities affected by the ongoing conflict, FAO added.

-Dry spell-

Despite not being mentioned in the FAO report, the northern state of Warrap, which has a population of about 980,000 and hosts some 16,500 IDPs, has been hard hit by the hunger crisis.

"The challenges that have been imposed on the state include the dry spell of last year with the rains not having a regular pattern and now the [political] crisis which affected part of the communities on the border with Unity State has set the ground for severe hunger," Warrap State Agriculture Minister Majok Bol Kur told AA.

"With about a million people in the state, two thirds have been affected," he added.

"We have tried to help the communities by providing aid assistance, but it is not enough," Kur lamented. "Aid agencies are also working hard to rescue [affected people], but still less is done."

According to the minister, several parts of the state are now out of the reach of aid agencies.

"Tonj East, now as I talk, is flooded and cut off. The roads are not passable and the fields are under water," Kur said.

"The counties of Twic, Gogrial West and Tonj North are all facing food shortages. Only the improvement of roads can rescue the situation," he added.

Kur also said that, along the border with Unity State, no cultivation has taken place this year.

"If the issue of Warrap is not addressed, then there will be a calamity," he warned.

-Desperate bravery-

In the far northeast, local stakeholders warn that the situation in the area is already akin to famine.

"Famine is already being experienced in the area. People are very hungry; they are starving. There are many people now dying, especially children and old people," MP Gatwich Lam, who represents Upper Nile State's Nasir County, told AA.

"About 20,000 to 25,000 people have been displaced from Nasir and the food being taken by the humanitarian agencies through Ethiopia isn't enough to meet their needs," he said.

He added that food being airdropped by humanitarian agencies went straight into rebel hands – not those of the intended population.

"A third of Nasir is being controlled by the rebels. We were expecting the government to drop food to Nasir by air, but that never happened. The humanitarian agencies were using other areas controlled by rebels to drop the food," Lam asserted.

"My appeal to government and the World Food Program (WFP) is to deliver humanitarian assets to the areas affected to save the people from starvation," the lawmaker added.

Areas in the adjacent Jonglei State are no better, with the local population unable to cultivate the land due to the political conflict raging in the area.

Duk County lawmaker Philip Thon Leek Deng told AA that the situation was alarming.

"The situation in Duk County is still very bad. The famine has already affected the people and no intervention is currently going on," Deng said. "It is famine and people have to accept this."

"Several have died in Ayueldit among the displaced people. At least 25 people died on the way coming from Ayod in the last week of last month [July]," he added.

"People in Duk have not cultivated [their land] and relief agencies have to plan for a long-term food supply in the area," he noted.

Deng put the number of hungry people at 42,000 in Duk and the neighboring Twic East County.

"Some are still displaced in the swampy areas where it is difficult to reach them with food supplies. Nearly 22,000 are internally displaced in Duk itself and in Twic East County near Duk, there are 20,000 – all very desperate for food," Deng said.

"The WFP a week ago dropped food in Pajut, but rebels are also fighting for food with civilians. The situation is very desperate – when rebels hear of food deliveries, they raid the area," he added.

"With the rebel raids, with no cultivation, and without delivery, it will be difficult for the people," Deng said.

The MP said that hunger was pushing many affected people to brave insecure areas.

"People from Ayod [County] are now all coming to Duk to look for food. People of Urol County are being prevented from coming to Duk by the rebels, but because they are very hungry, some are finding their way to Duk," Deng said.

"Currently, there are nearly 1000 people from Urol who have come to Duk County seeking food. And there are about 3000 – all from Ayod and Urol counties – in Duk now," he pointed out.

"If the food were to go to Ayueldit and Poktap [both in Duk county], more people would come from Ayod and Urol because the situation is very desperate – not only in Duk County, but also in those areas in rebel hands," Deng concluded.

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