Authorities in the newly created Boma State reported high prices of food commodity in Pochalla North County. One small cup of sugar is sold at 50 South Sudanese Pounds while a sack of sugar of 50 kg costs SSP 7500, the equivalent of nearly $100.

The Commissioner of Pochalla North County says life is too expensive in the county citing high rate of hard currency in the area. “It is a big problem… food is not enough… our people are suffering,” he said.

Pochalla area is only accessed by air, which makes it isolated from the rest of the states.

Most traders in Pochalla import their food from Ethiopia but people complain that South Sudanese currency does not work in Ethiopia.

File photo: A group of chiefs in Pochalla with the king of the Anyuak