Continuing conflict worsens malnutrition in the south

Recent fighting between Sudanese government troops and forces of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in the oil rich regions of southern Sudan, which has led to massive displacement, has further undermined the already precarious food security situation and increased rates of malnutrition in the area. The latest report by the US Agency for International Development-funded Famine Early Warning System Networks (FEWS Net) on southern Sudan has painted a gloomy picture of food prospects there. The report, released on Tuesday, stated that the situation was particularly adverse in the Jonglei and Upper Nile regions due to continuing conflict, and was not expected to improve before the September/October harvests. "Most households in these areas have relied on assistance for their food since the beginning of this year. The reliance on food aid has been the result of conflict in recent years and has seriously disrupted markets and crop production," the report stated. The most recent displacement of populations took place in July when people fled from western Upper Nile (Wahdah/Unity State) to the neighbouring Bahr al-Ghazal and Lakes regions, and although a proportion of the population had fled with their cattle, they moved at a time when the hunger season was at a peak and to an area where grain prices were highest and cattle prices were lowest, according to the report. "This is also the region where the majority of previously displaced households from western Upper Nile are residing," the report said. In the Bieh area, where conflict resulted in the killing of an aid worker and the abduction of three others by a southern based militia group, all humanitarian intervention had been suspended. This could worsen the already high malnutrition rates and disease incidence, food scarcity and access to safe water, the report said. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme said its stocks of food were expected to last only until this month, before the current crop is ready for harvest. "This could be serious for areas already faced with malnutrition," WFP said in a statement included in the FEWS Net report.