Eastern Equatoria Minister of Agriculture Clement Laku says more than 300,000 people in his state are facing hunger and need emergency food assistance. He blamed a lack of rain, which has resulted in a poor harvest.
The United Nations has reported that 4.6 million people in South Sudan are expected to be severely food insecure this year.
Laku told Radio Tamazuj that within Eastern Equatoria at least 15 percent of the population might already be suffering from malnutrition. And hunger is starting to force some families to look for refuge in neighboring Kenya.
He said the state government is mobilizing resources to purchase 700,000 metric tons of food as quickly as possible to distribute to the population.