UN agencies are warning that newly independent South Sudan will face chronic food
shortages next year due to internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and a huge
influx of returnees from the north. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
said a rapid crop assessment carried out in August showed South Sudan was likely to
produce 420,000-500,000 metric tonnes of food this year – half the required amount. Linda
Bordoni spoke to Shukri Ahmed, a senior economist at FAO covering the food security
situation in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. He said that overall an estimated
4.7 million people would be "food-insecure" next year, that is almost half of the
population of South Sudan. Out of that, he added, 1 million are "severly food-insecure"
- those are people who are at the threshold of going hungry for days. And according
to rainfalls, those numbers can go up, and more people will be in need of immediate
independence . Sudan gained independence from the north in July 2011 after decades
of civil war that killed about two million and left the country in ruins. Secession
was peaceful, but violence in border areas in Sudan has flared for months. Tens of
thousands of refugees have fled southwards from Southern Kordofan, Abyei and Blue
Nile, with returnees from Khartoum and subsequent border closures placing a further
strain on the now landlocked nation, which is still dependent on the north for most
goods. Ahmed says FAO is worried insufficient food production, scanty rainfalls,
and political insecurity could result in dramatic price increases and food insecurity
for a vast number of South Sudanese. He said that South Sudan is a fertile nation
with great potential, and it is up to an intervention of the international community
to help the new government implement development policies . Ahmed explains that
the lack of basic infrastructure seriously hampers South Sudan’s ability to feed itself,
and he identifies agricultural support and road-building as priorities in the world's
newest nation. Listen to the interview…