UN Agency Warns 2 Million People Could Lose Food Aid In South Sudan

The World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it may have to halt food assistance to two million people in South Sudan within weeks due to a severe funding shortfall.

About 7.8 million people—roughly half of South Sudan’s population—struggle to get enough food each day, according to WFP Assistant Executive Director Matthew Hollingworth.

The UN agency currently provides daily assistance to around three million people, but that figure could fall to just one million by the end of the month unless it receives “a very significant uptick in resources very soon,” Hollingworth told reporters.

He said the WFP urgently needs $86 million and a further $416 million over the next six months to maintain its food assistance programmes.

Around 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are in need of “urgent nutrition support,” Hollingworth said.

“Unless additional resources are secured, more than a million vulnerable people could lose access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance by October,” he warned.

The agency’s dwindling supplies are already being felt on the ground. Hollingworth said WFP warehouses in Malakal held about 10,000 tonnes of food a year ago, compared with fewer than 300 tonnes today.

South Sudan has faced repeated internal conflicts since gaining independence in 2011. The country has also taken in more than one million refugees fleeing the civil war in neighbouring Sudan.

Economic hardship and climate-related pressures have further aggravated the humanitarian crisis.

“We are about to drop off a financial cliff at a time when the needs are at the greatest level that they’ve been at for the past 13, 14 years,” Hollingworth said.