World Food Programme releases video on South Sudan food crisis

The World Food Programme (WFP) released a video Wednesday showing the worsening food crisis in South Sudan, a volatile country in Africa where up to 5.3 million people could face a severe food shortage over the next months.

The footage showed children lined in front of a food distribution center in the northern Bahr El Ghazal region for performing malnutrition tests.

It also showed members of a family lamenting the severe food crisis, saying they were leaving South Sudan for Darfur because of the crisis, which is expected to worsen over March-September lean season.

Studies conducted in the period between January and March in South Sudan have classified 2.8 million people as being in “crisis” or “emergency” food situations. They say an estimated 40,000 in the country were thought to be suffering an outright famine.

The UN warned on May 9 that more than 5 million people in South Sudan are facing a severe food shortage this summer, while forecasts show that South Sudan will face the most severe lean season in 2016 since its independence. The severity of the problem is also fueled by insecurity, poor harvests, and displacement in some areas of the country.

“As many as 5.3 million people may face severe food insecurity, with particular areas of concern in the non-conflict affected states of Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Eastern Equatoria,” the WFP said.

South Sudan has been in a state of turmoil since December 2013, when President Salva Kiir sacked his first vice president, Riek Machar. The UN says the fighting has displaced 1.69 million across Sudan and another 712,000 have fled into neighboring countries.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk