Almost eight million people in South Sudan are at risk of hunger according to a report published by the United Nations on Thursday.
According to Meshack Malo, 1.4 million children are malnourished and their brain development could be destroyed beyond repair,’
This situation is currently blamed on a combination of conflict, poor macroeconomic conditions, extreme climate events.
Makena Walker, acting country director for WFP in South Sudan stated that South Sudan is on the frontlines of the climate crisis and day in, day out families are losing their homes, cattle, fields and hope to extreme weather.
The UN added that the spiralling costs of food and fuel, as well as a decline in funding for humanitarian programmes were also part of the problem.
‘Without humanitarian food assistance, millions more will find themselves in an increasingly dire situation and unable to provide even the most basic food for their families.”
Reports indicate that the proportion of people facing high levels of food insecurity and malnourishment ‘is at the highest level ever’, even surpassing levels seen during the conflict in 2013 and 2016.
