The United Nations has projected that South Sudan is likely to experience famine in the next three to six months due to food insecurity.
Floods and political instability have majorly contributed to state of food insecurity in the Republic of South Sudan.
“The Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots report conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) found that millions of people who were already facing hunger are on the brink of famine due to pandemic which plundered employment, disrupts agricultural activities, slashes remittances and sends crude prices spiralling.”
Crude oil prices have totally shut the economy of South Sudan. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the oil prices drastically reduced implicating a state of economic depression in the country.
“We are at a catastrophic turning point. Once again, we face the risk of famine in four different parts of the world at the same time,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP director of emergencies.
Accroding to the UN agency, Nigeria, DR-Congo and Burkina Faso are three other Africans countries likely to have famine.
“When we declare a famine it means many lives have already been lost. If we wait to find that out for sure, people are already dead,” said WFP’s Velden.