Nearly 3.6 million people in South Sudan are facing severe food shortages, the highest levels ever experienced at harvest time, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), said on Friday.
The UN agency warned against the hunger levels in South Sudan, saying the crisis is likely to worsen when food from the current harvest runs out.
The UN’s World Food Programme estimated in its report that the number will rise to 4.6 million between January and April and may increase further from May to July unless aid is scaled up.
WFP singled out Northern Bahr al Ghazal, Western Bahr al Ghazal and Unity States where nearly 60%, 47% and 56% of the population respectively are affected. The organization pointed out that conflict and insecurity also cut off trade routes and disrupted imports.
More than one million South Sudanese have fled into neighbouring countries since the outbreak of conflict in 2013, while about 1.9 million others are internally displaced.