Famine Declared in South Sudan as 100,000 People Face Starvation

It’s a dire situation in South Sudan.

Famine isn’t a word tossed around lightly, by any means. The United Nations’ definition of 'famine' is when the following conditions are met:

• At least 20 per cent of a population faces extreme food shortages.
• Thirty per cent of people face acute malnutrition.
• At least two people per 10,000 die every day.

South Sudan’s decision to declare a state of famine in parts of the country’s south was agreed upon by the UN and the World Food Program this week. Somalia was the last country to declare a famine, back in 2011, when it was experiencing a severe drought. The situation in South Sudan today is, as the ABC reports, far worse.

On top of a severe drought, South Sudan has been fraught with three years of ongoing civil war. The country is in the throes of a failed peace agreement, and an economic collapse now places 100,000 people at risk of starvation. A further one million people are on the brink of famine.

Women and children make up a disproportionate number of those at risk of dying.

One UNICEF spokesperson, James Elder, describes mothers walking for weeks to find food. “They’re fleeing 50 to 100, 300 kilometres across the country into areas that may be barren and have no access to food and no access to water,” he told the ABC.

Since civil war erupted in the country, tens of thousands have died and at least three million have been forced from their homes. Many now take refuge in UN camps across the country, while others (roughly one and a half million) have crossed the border to neighboring countries.

In the face of embattled warzones and displacement, farmers are unable to plant or harvest crops; leading to a disastrous food shortage. This has led to hyperinflation; now, many South Sudanese people are unable to afford imported foods.

The UN has urged the South Sudanese Government (and other warring parties) to follow through with a peace treaty to begin rebuilding the country.

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