Some 6.6 million South Sudanese, more than half of the country’s population, are suffering severe levels of hunger in the face of a severe food crisis, a situation that includes 2.2 million people at risk of starvation, which is leading some of the population to resort to eating leaves to stay alive, according to the non-governmental organization Oxfam International.
Oxfam said the humanitarian response remains «woefully underfunded» and warned that if the international community does not act urgently, two-thirds of South Sudanese — equivalent to 7.7 million people — could face food shortages by 2023.
Climate change, conflict and rising food prices are pushing already vulnerable communities to the brink in a country that has suffered five consecutive years of severe flooding that has destroyed fields and left nearly 70 percent of the country inundated, forcing nearly one million people to flee their homes in search of food and shelter.
«Right now we are living on scrub leaves growing in the river because we have no food, so you have to eat what is available,» recounts Marta Kangach, a resident of Jonglei state who lost all her livestock and crops to the floods. «As human beings, if you eat little in small portions, you endure and don’t die, so we go to the bushes and pick green leaves for cooking,» she adds.
The UN humanitarian appeal to fund the response in South Sudan is two-thirds funded, with $1.3 billion (about €1.24 billion) raised, down from the $1.5 billion (about €1.43 billion) raised in 2020, an insufficient amount considering that the number of people affected has increased during this period.
In fact, the World Food Program (WFP) had to suspend its delivery of aid to 1.7 million people due to lack of funds, a situation that aggravates the crisis and makes it possible to estimate that in 2023 there could be 9.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid, including 1.4 million malnourished children.
As a result, Oxfam’s director for South Sudan, Manenji Mangundu, warned that «climate change, coupled with conflict and rising food and fuel prices, have pushed South Sudan to the brink of famine.» «The people of South Sudan are paying the price for a climate crisis caused by rich polluting nations,» he said.
«The world can no longer ignore the suffering of millions of people facing a daily struggle to survive. Funds are urgently needed to save lives and ensure that people can get enough food to live and feed their families,» said Mangundu, according to a statement released by the organization through its website.
Most of South Sudan’s states are prone to flooding, although climate change has helped make rains more frequent and intense. Since 2018, floods have been recorded at alarming levels that have also destroyed numerous infrastructures and saturated the ground, preventing the waters from receding even after the rainy season.
South Sudan has a unity government that was launched following the materialization of the 2018 peace agreement. Despite the decline in violence due to the political conflict, the country has seen an increase in inter-communal clashes, mainly motivated by cattle rustling and disputes between pastoralists and farmers in the most fertile areas of the country, especially due to increased desertification and displacement of populations.
