Sudan Facing New Food Crisis

IRIN News - “We certainly are concerned that there may indeed be a food crisis in Southern Sudan this year,” David Gressly, regional coordinator for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Southern Sudan, said on 8 July.

“Insecurity may be one of the factors that inhibited some crop production,” he told a news conference in Khartoum. “The larger factor may simply be the weather this year. Anybody who has travelled to Southern Sudan this time of year in the past would have seen a great deal of rain. We are not seeing the kind of rain so far in Southern Sudan as is typical.”

Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Jonglei and Upper Nile States are at greatest risk. At least three million people live in these states, according to the 2008 census results. Also likely to be affected is Eastern Equatoria.

“Those four states are of concern and we are hoping in two or three weeks we would come up with an accurate assessment of how severe that might be,” Gressly added. “But, certainly at an anecdotal level, it does seem to be an indication of a crisis.”

Poor infrastructure across the region has left some areas isolated, especially during the rainy season, while insecurity has impeded delivery of aid to some places such as Akobo in Jonglei State. Local climate conditions in states such as Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal have also been harsh.

Akobo, which hosts about 19,000 displaced civilians, was cut off from aid supplies by a 12 June attack on boats carrying food, near Nassir in Upper Nile State. Since then UNMIS has airlifted nearly 150MT just to provide basic food supplies to the area.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), poor rains had prolonged a severe dry spell across most of Southern Sudan – although recent rains may ameliorate conditions.

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