UN warns of famine in #Southsudan

The UN is warning of a famine in war-torn South Sudan
where more than a million people have been displaced.
Many can no longer work in the fields in a country where 95
percent of the population depends on farming.
"We live from berries and roots," one woman said. She fled
with her children to a refugee camp in the north of South
Sudan. "Things have become terrible since the fighting
started. We don't know how we are going to feed
ourselves," she said.
Aid workers in South Sudan are also worried. The United
Nations is warning that the food shortage troubling the
strife torn country is threatening to turn into famine. The
number of people suffering from hunger could rise to four
million - that's almost half of the population - by August.
The UN has described the crisis as "currently the worst in
the world."
"The number of women and children queuing up for food
hand-outs is increasing dramatically. They often have to
cover 100 kilometers (62 miles) on foot to reach our
centers," said Gareth Hughes from the British organization
Tearfund. People are unable to grow food themselves
because the fighting has driven them off the fields. They
haven't been able to till the land.
"The situation is getting worse, because normally, in July
and August, people are starting to harvest their crops. But
people haven't been able to plant their crops this year,"
Hughes said.
Almost two million refugees need help
The three states hit the worst are Upper Nile, Jonglei and
Unity State according to John Kolff, who has been working
for the Dutch organization Cordaid in South Sudan's capital
Juba for the last three years. He recently visited the north of
the country. "The fighting mostly takes place in these three
states and whole cities have been razed to the ground," he
said. Neighboring states are also affected because of the
refugees flooding across their boundaries in search of
sanctuary.
Kolff said 1.9 million refuges need assistance and assumes
that number will have doubled by the end of the year. His
figures tally with estimates from UN relief agencies.
"We have been warning of famine for months" said Sue
Lautez from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) in South Sudan. "It is not only hard for people to find
food - access to water, health facilities and everything you
need to survive is also difficult. The situation gets worse by
the month," she said.
Fighting and poor infrastructure
It is not only the fighting which is making it difficult for aid
agencies to reach people in need, it is also the poor
infrastructure as well. "Inside Juba there are a few good
roads," said Kollf. The rest are a big challenge. It is also
difficult to transport supplies by air because during the
rainy season many of the airstrips are unusable. "Our
workers walk for up to five hours through flood water to get
to the feeding centers and to reach the children who are in
desperate need of help," said Hughes.
Father Jacob Solomon is an Ethiopian missionary who has
lived near the city of Bentiu in Unity State for the last three
years. He said he has seen many children die. He said he
goes to visit families who have invited him to pray for those
who have perished, literally because of lack of food. "And I
could see that people are not even having the strength to
bury the dead," he told DW.
All aid organizations insist that it is essential to react now
and not to wait until the famine arrives. That happened in
2011 when all warnings of famine in Somalia and on the
Horn of Africa were ignored. "The world should not wait for
a famine to be annnounced while children here are dying"
said Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF. In 2011,
more than quarter of a million people died before the crisis
was declared official.
Peace deal needed
Hughes said one lesson learned from the East African food
crisis in 2011 was that the international community needed
to act fast in order to prevent a famine. "The more we can
respond now, the better chance we have at saving
children's lives and preventing a famine over the next
couple of months," he said.
The UN said Somalia faces yet another famine because of
the persistent drought. 50,000 children are suffering from
malnutrition and if help doesn't arrive soon that figure will
leap dramatically. They have already been fatalities," said
Mohammed Guleit, formerly of the World Food Program
(WFP).
Rapid assistance is required in both South Sudan and
Somalia if famine is to be avoided. But the long term,
according to Father Solomon, South Sudan's warring
factions will have to negotiate a peace deal. Then people
will be able to return to their fields and feed themselves.