Three U.N. agencies said war and a collapsing economy have put 100,000 people at risk of starvation in South Sudan. An additional 1 million are on the brink of starvation, said the agencies, which warned, “The total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.”
“This famine in man-made,” said Joyce Luma, country director for the UN World Food Program. Without peace and security, “there is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve.”
“Famine is currently affecting parts of Unity State in the northern-central part of the country. A formal famine declaration means people have already started dying of hunger,” said the UN agencies. Three years of armed conflict have undermined crop production and rural livelihoods in South Sudan. An upsurge in violence since last July has reach previously stable areas while runaway inflation has made it difficult to buy food.