IDPs particularly food insecure in the south

Internally displaced people remain the most vulnerable to food insecurity in southern Sudan, with declining nutritional standards especially evident in parts of Bahr al-Ghazal and Upper Nile regions, according to USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS). In a report released on Monday, FEWS reported that despite good rains, agricultural production had been delayed due to insecurity in the Leech and Bieh areas of Bahr al-Ghazal and Upper Nile, and this was likely to extend “the hunger period” - the traditional gap between harvests - in the affected areas. Vegetation conditions continued to improve, but were notably below the seasonal average in the western and central parts of the Jonglei region (in the southeast) and in pastoral areas of Kapoeta County (in Eastern Equatoria), FEWS added.

It also suggested that in areas with the prospect of good harvests, it may now be time for extension services to assist farmers in the construction of proper storage facilities. “Huge post-harvest losses have been incurred in the past from pest infestation due to improper storage of grain,” it warned.

The FEWS update noted a trend of decreasing beneficiaries in some therapeutic feeding centres (for instance in Akobo, southeastern Upper Nile, and in Ajiep, Gogrial County, Bahr al-Ghazal) which it attributed not to improving conditions, but to a deliberate move by women with malnourished children to move back to their homes to cultivate their land in an effort to feed their families. “While this may enable them to have food come harvest time (if conditions are favourable), it is also worrying, as the nutrition situation of these children is fragile and bound to deteriorate further,” the report stated. [for further details on FEWS, go to: http://www.fews.net/]