South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
More than 83,000 people are facing “catastrophe,” the most severe level of extreme hunger, while 7.7 million, or half the population, grapple with acute food insecurity between April and July 2025, according to a joint report released by the government and UN agencies on Thursday.
The latest Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) report, released in Juba, indicates that 83,000 people will face catastrophic hunger in Pibor Administrative Area and Upper Nile State.
The assessment also revealed an additional 2.4 million people facing emergency food shortages and 5.2 million experiencing crisis conditions between April and July 2025.
The report recorded an increase in malnutrition among children under the age of five, rising from 2.1 million to 2.3 million.
It stated that an additional 218,000 malnourished children are in dire need of treatment, while 714,439 children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
According to the report, the conflict, low agricultural production, economic crisis, and climate shocks are key drivers of food insecurity.
The report is based on the IPC index, which includes five levels of severity in the situation: minimal, under pressure, crisis, emergency, and famine.
Meshak Malo, the FAO country representative in South Sudan, stated that out of the 83,000 people, 12,000 will face starvation in Pibor, 15,000 in Malakal, and 10,000 in Ulang County.
“At independence, you only had one million people. Now, it’s risen to 7.7 million. When we look at the differences between last year and now, the population of 83,000 people was not present but has emerged due to the conflict in some of those areas,” Malo said during the report’s release in Juba on Thursday.
Malo noted that 10 counties have shown improvement by moving to phase three, which is crisis, from emergency.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, country director of the WFP in South Sudan, stated that the report also indicated that 200,000 young children are at high risk of malnutrition in four counties of Upper Nile State.
“We have over 7.7 million people, which is about 57% of the population, classified as IPC3 and above, meaning they cannot consistently and predictably provide a meal a day for their families,” said McGroarty.
McGroarty announced the launch of the National Nutrition Policy, a key milestone in addressing the malnutrition crisis in the country.
“We are deeply concerned at the UN. We are joining hands to tackle the problem, and we encourage the government to continue some of the very fruitful efforts already underway.”
Anita Kiki Gbeho, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, called for urgent humanitarian intervention to assist the population.
“People are calling for assistance, and we must act now to support them. Therefore, I urgently call for advocacy and work towards lasting peace and a complete cessation of hostilities,” said Gbeho.
She urged a scale-up of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance, particularly in the most vulnerable counties.
“This includes the scale-up of integrated health, nutrition, and sanitation interventions for women and children who are acutely malnourished,” she said.
“Third, we must address the root causes of food insecurity by supporting farmers with climate-smart agriculture and investing in disaster risk reduction.”
Mr. Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, stated that the government will support farmers to boost food production and eliminate hunger in the country.
“My ministry will continue to provide farmers with seeds, tools, and training. Let us embrace climate-smart farming and strengthen our traditional coping mechanisms,” Abdelbagi remarked.
Abdelbagi called for a massive, coordinated, and multi-sectoral response to address the hunger situation in the country, stating, “Let us rebuild our local markets and support one another in our communities.”
He emphasised the need to ensure health facilities are equipped to treat malnutrition.
“We must ensure our roads are passable so farmers can reach markets and food can reach families. We must stabilise our economy to protect our citizens from suffering.”
