JUBA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- United Nations agencies said Friday an estimated 6.96 million South Sudanese will face acute levels of food insecurity or worse by the end of July.
A joint report by South Sudan government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) says some 21,000 people will likely face a catastrophic lack of food access while about 1.82 million will face emergency and another 5.12 million people will face crisis levels of food insecurity.
Ronald Sibanda, WFP country director in South Sudan, said the hunger season coincides with the rainy season which he said is a "perfect storm" in South Sudan.
"As we ramp up our response, the race is now against time and nature," he said. "We must act now to save the lives and livelihoods of the millions on the brink of starvation."
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update released in Juba, the number of people facing a critical lack of food in South Sudan is the highest ever.
Compared to last January's forecast for the period of May-July 2019, 81,000 more people than originally projected are facing IPC Phase 3 or worse food insecurity, particularly in the Jonglei, Lakes, Unity and Northern Bahr el Gazal states, the report said.
Meshack Malo, FAO representative in South Sudan, said the report reveals that much work needs to be done, noting that recovery of food production and increase of yields are reliant on the maintenance of peace, and must be given a chance.
"FAO is working with returning farmers to assist them to resettle, build assets and adapt to changing rainfall patterns," Malo said.
The ongoing lean season started early following record-low stocks from the poor 2018 harvest and has been further extended by the delayed onset of 2019 seasonal rains.
This, combined with persistent economic instability, the effects of previous years of conflict and related asset depletion and population displacements, have contributed to the disruption of livelihoods and reduced people's ability to access food, the report said.
High food prices caused by last year's poor harvests, market disruptions due to insecurity, high transport costs and a depreciated currency are also contributing to the high levels of acute food insecurity.
The UN agencies said effective implementation of the latest peace agreement and political stability are imperative to allow urgent and scaled-up humanitarian assistance to protect livelihoods and boost agricultural production across the country to save lives.
Mohamed Ag Ayoya, UNICEF representative in South Sudan, said the agency and partners will further scale up services during the lean season to reach more children affected by severe acute malnutrition, expanding its programming through two key methods.
"With greater stability in the country, access to those in need has improved, allowing us to treat more than 100,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition in the first five months of the year, with more than 90 percent of those children recovering," Ayoya said.
