Armed conflict and unfavorable rains in South Sudan have reduced crop production and aggravated food shortages that already were severe, said two UN agencies. Prices of cereal grains are nearly five times higher than before the crisis began. Some 5.8 million people, or nearly half of the population “are unsure where their next meal is coming from,” said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The FAO and the World Food Program issued a crop and food assessment report for the African nation. “South Sudan is facing a deadly blend of conflict, economic hardship and poor rains,” said WFP country director Joyce Luma. The grain shortage was estimated at 381,000 tonnes, 53 percent larger than in 2015.
More than 90 percent of South Sudan is arable land. Only 4.5 percent was under cultivation in 2011 and after two years of civil war, a much smaller amount of land is being cultivated because of widespread insecurity and damage to agricultural buildings and equipment, said the FAO. Lawless conditions on roadways, such as roadblocks to demand payments from truckers, has impaired traffic to cities from grain-growing regions.