Sudan faces worsening hunger and malnutrition crisis
April 10, 2014: Farmers and herders in Sudan need urgent support to help prevent
the food security situation in the country from deteriorating further, the Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned on Thursday. Some 3.3 million people are currently
suffering from food insecurity with numbers likely to rise to 4 million in the coming
months due to a combination of increased conflict and displacement in Darfur, refugee
movement from neighbouring South Sudan, poor harvest and spiralling food prices.
In
some areas of Sudan, existing crisis levels of food insecurity are expected to deteriorate
to emergency levels in the coming few weeks, bringing an even higher degree of acute
malnutrition with devastating consequences for vulnerable groups. “Sudan is a forgotten
crisis that is only getting worse,” said Abdi Adan Jama, FAO Representative in the
country. “We urgently need to ensure vulnerable herders and farmers affected by the
situation are in a position to regain their livelihoods, feed their families, reduce
their dependency on food aid and rebuild their lives.”
United Nations agencies
and partners have so far received only 3.5 percent of the $995 million that they requested
to carry out urgent humanitarian interventions set out in the Strategic Response Plan
for Sudan in 2014.
Multiple causes behind crisis: The current food security
situation in Sudan has multiple causes, including a poor 2013-2014 harvest due to
late and below-average rains in main cropping areas, with cereal production dropping
to 65-70 percent of the last five-year average. A resurgence of fighting and inter-tribal
violence has resulted in people fleeing their homes and missing critical planting
and harvesting seasons, particularly in the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.
Renewed hostility in Darfur has resulted in over 200 000 people being displaced since
the beginning of 2014.
Domestic cereal prices have meanwhile been rising steadily
since May-June 2013, and by March 2014 had reached record levels in most markets,
significantly reducing the purchasing power of vulnerable families. The price of sorghum,
the main staple, was more than 70 percent higher in March 2014 than in March 2013.
Staple food prices are expected to continue to increase rapidly from February to June
2014 by an average of 10-15 percent, FAO said.
An increase in refugee movements
as people try to escape the crisis in South Sudan by crossing into border areas of
Sudan are meanwhile putting pressure on local resources and risking increased conflict.
This in turn will impact Sudan’s nomadic herding populations, who normally graze millions
of cattle in South Sudan during the dry season.
Call for $19 million to support
5.4 million people “About 80 percent of Sudan’s rural population relies on agriculture
for their food and income, and if we do not recognize the magnitude of what is happening
and act in time the situation will get much, much worse,” said Jama. FAO is calling
for $19 million for a series of urgent interventions in the country targeting a total
of 5.4 million people. So far it has received only $7 million, leaving a funding gap
of $12 million.
The Organization plans to provide 900 000 of the most vulnerable
households with livelihood-saving support. This includes multipurpose crops which
not only respond to the nutritional needs of families but also protect soil, provide
fodder for livestock to sustain milk production, and offer good prices on markets. High
quality and early maturing seed will be provided for the two staple crops, sorghum
and millet, and FAO will work to diversify the food basket of affected families by
promoting legumes, sweet potato, milk production, and vegetables that can be grown
in the rainy season, enabling vital access to supplementary income. The Food Security
and Livelihoods Cluster, co-led by FAO, plans to vaccinate 11.7 million heads of livestock
and ensure supplementary feeding and improved access to pasture and water, which will
secure the survival of these important productive assets.
The $19 million
FAO needs for urgent interventions forms part of an appeal for almost $388 million
for support to food security and livelihoods throughout 2014 made by the Food Security
and Livelihoods Cluster as part of the Strategic Response Plan.