SUDAN: Returnees facing food deficit

Over 4,000 returnees are facing food shortages in the Liethnom area of Bahr al Ghazal state, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). In it latest weekly report, the UN food agency said around 4,800 returnees could no longer depend on kinship for their food needs. "At present, wild foods and fish are together thought to make up between 60-80 percent of the returnees' food sources," it said. Preliminary findings from another assessment in Aweil, also in Bahr al Ghazal, point to a food deficit during the upcoming "hunger gap" months, across all socio-economic groups. "Food insecurity in the area is primarily due to a poor 1998 crop harvest, increased competition over food sources including wild foods, limited access to markets and reduced mobility due to insecurity in the north of the county," the report said.