Bridging the Gap Between Vulnerable Communities and Access to Resources
South Sudan is currently affected by a harsh food crisis. While famine was declared in Unity State on 20th February 2017, the rest of the country is struggling to cope with the deteriorating food insecurity situation. The South Sudan National Multi-Hazard Early Warning Bulletin released in April 2017 warned of a serious food security and nutrition crisis, with about 4.9 million people facing food insecurity. In the meanwhile, hyperinflation continues to be a major challenge, with an annual food inflation rate of 480 percent in February 2017.
ACTED teams are currently intervening in Maban County, North-East of the country. Maban county continues to suffer high levels of food insecurity despite Maban being endowed with natural resources such as fertile land and the Yabus River, which could be harnessed during the dry season through irrigation to better support agriculture where typically planting is more difficult. In the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in January 2017, Maban County was classified as being in the ‘Phase 2: Stressed’ classification, and will move into ‘Phase 3: Crisis’ classification by July 2017.
Karl-Ludwig Poggemann