Authorities in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr al Ghazal state on Monday warned that unreliable rains could cause a poor harvest and potentially a food shortage in 2016.
Speaking Monday, the director general at the state ministry of agriculture Joseph Garang Garang said the grass is dried up in state capital Aweil due to lack of rains and the rural areas have also been affected.
“People cultivated early this year and they were expecting that maybe in late July and in the beginning of August they would be able to survive on the first crops like ground nuts, maize, and those other crops which are planted early,” said Garang.
He said the state ministry was working with development partners to map out the most affected areas to see what could be done.
“As the government we have put in place our plans and we are encouraging businesspeople from outside to start preparation and make plans to buy sorghum, maize, or some of their livestock for sale,” he said.