South Sudanese food crisis rises

By: Victoria Calderon  
Produced and edited by: Kaylyn Hlavaty

Shortly after declaring independence last July, South Sudan faces rising food prices and food insecurity for 2.4 million people.

Senada Kahriman, country director of CHF International in South Sudan said the country is reliant on imported food and cites lack of infrastructure in the country as a cause of the food crisis.

“There is very little local production [of food] and even in locations where food production is high enough to send goods to the market, lack of roads and basic infrastructure makes imported food, majorly from Uganda, easier to access,” said Kahriman.

According to the Malaria Consortium, the twenty-two year civil war that ended in 2005 left the infrastructure of South Sudan in a poor condition. Non-governmental organizations have been left to fill in the gaps while the infrastructure improves.

More than two years after its independence, South Sudan remains to be one of Africa’s least developed countries as indicated by a 2011 report determined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Oil Production Ceases

In addition, a halt in oil production after disputes with Sudan has left the south without its major source of revenue since January.

"South Sudan derived about 98-percent of its budgetary revenue from oil exports," said George Fominyen, a spokesperson from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Once reliant on agriculture, the country turned to oil as a means of profit. Now, only four percent of arable land in South Sudan is currently under cultivation.

This is also a result of the country's expensive costs to operate the environment, said Kahriman.

It is estimated that 75-percent of former Sudan's oil reserves now remain in the south. A 2005 accord split the oil revenue evenly between the two countries, but this agreement ended with South Sudan's independence.

A breakdown in agreements after the split has suspended the production of oil since January. Plans to reopen the oil fields in September were postponed after Sudan added an addendum to the cooperation agreement.

Sudan has demanded that South Sudan disarm rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North, which currently operate in two states bordering South Sudan.

Negotiations for the implementation of a cooperation agreement between the two countries are still ongoing.

Food Insecurity Fominyen says, “Food insecurity is persistent in the country with a minimum of ten percent of the population experiencing severe seasonal food insecurity every year over the past five years, regardless of the agricultural season performance.”

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in staple food prices where food security is vulnerable and has watched South Sudan's steady price increase.

Food prices generally begin to rise as food stores begin to decline in April. However, prices have not stopped rising in South Sudan, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Kahriman expects the resumption of oil production will result in a decrease in food insecurity, as well as the level of inflation in the country.

Fominyen is not convinced there is a trend between a lack of oil production and the rise in food prices, citing that food prices in South Sudan have always been high.

Data collected by USAID does show prices in South Sudan have been rising since as early as January 2008, even before South Sudan declared its independence and oil production was ceased.

Instead, Fominyen said the border closures between South Sudan and Sudan have caused a spike in food prices. Before the closures and South Sudanese independence, as much as 180,000 metric tons of assorted food reached the markets in South Sudan from or through the north. Fominyen said at least 40-percent of that food was sorghum, a grain high in fat and protein.

"Following the border closures...prices shot up."

Lamwalhok Liah, a South Sudanese citizen says he's watched the price of sorghum steadily rise.

"We observed that food prices, especially sorghum and wheat flour prices, in most areas were double what they were at the same periods last year," said Fominyen.

NGO's Struggle to Keep Up With Demand

Non-profit organizations are struggling to keep up with the demand for food. Kahriman said that CHF international has seen the number of people who require food assistance double from 1.2 to 2.4 million people.

The United Nations WFP office in Sudan, however, said their numbers have decreased since South Sudan split from the north. As many as 10 million people needed aid from the NGO at one once before 2011, but WFP now cares for closer to 4.2 million people in Sudan, according to Amor Almagro.

Flooding Causes Health Problems in South Sudan

By: Victoria Calderon
Produced & edited by Kaylyn Hlavaty

At the peak of malaria season and in the midst of heavy flooding in South Sudan, medical aid is needed more than ever for Southern Sudanese refugees, but violence has suspended the delivery of necessary medical services from non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

“[The] majority of South Sudanese heavily rely on humanitarian aid,” says CHF International South Sudan Director Senada Kahriman, especially when 60 per cent of the country is cut off from access during the rainy season.

Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission in South Sudan Stefano Zannini says MSF is close to suspending all services in the country due to security concerns.

Courtesy of Catholic Relief Services Staff. Academic Fair Use.

Courtesy of Catholic Relief Services Staff. Academic Fair Use.

“This will have a devastating impact on the community, leaving more than 160,000 residents of Pibor County without access to health care,” says Zannini.

Some agencies have pulled their regular staff and organized mobile teams to provide daily visits to remote villages, says Kahriman.

“In Abyei for example, where health facilities and the entire town were destroyed and people displaced, mobile teams travel daily to provide services to returnees, and the new health facilities have been established in the places where the population was displaced.”

South Sudan’s grasslands, swamps, and tropical rain forests that straddle both banks of the White Nile serve as a breeding ground for life-threatening diseases when the river floods.

According to Médecins Sans Frontières, malaria cases have tripled in the Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal state.

Spikes of malaria generally start in May and begin to subside in September and October until they hit their lowest point in December. However, the rainy season began even earlier than usual this year and will likely continue longer than normal.

The states most affected by flooding are Jonglei, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile and Warrap.

“Seasonal flooding has affected about 260,000 people this year across South Sudan. Although coordinated emergency response is ongoing to flood-affected people, needs can only partially be met,” says Kahriman.

The continued influx of Sudanese refugees has strained humanitarian operations.

“Upper Nile and Unity State have received huge number of refugees from the north, fleeing conflict affected areas of Blue Nile State and Southern Kordofan. There are also great needs to assist returnees coming from the north of Sudan, as well as [internally displaced persons]. UN sources confirm that More than 126,000 people have returned to South Sudan this year,” says Kahriman.

The heavy flow of water has strengthened the presence of infected mosquitos, which increase the likelihood that malaria will be transmitted to people after they are bitten, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Lamwalhok Liah is a worker in the out patient department of Médecins Sans Frontières in Juba, South Sudan. He says the condition of malaria and typhoid are present in all ten states, but it is at its height in the headquarters of Juba and the upper Nile region.

Malaria is preventable and curable, but the Plasmodium parasite that is spread with the bites of infected mosquitoes causes around 216 million cases of malaria every year around the world.

The large numbers of South Sudanese who were living in Sudan have returned to the south since the country’s independence, and these people have less immunity to malaria and are more likely to develop the disease says WHO.

South Sudan successfully transitioned to independence in June 2011 after 99 per cent of Southern Sudanese voted to separate from Sudan. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement established that South Sudan regional autonomy.

Partial human immunity, especially among adults in areas of moderate to intense transmission conditions, can be built up after years of exposure even if it will never provide complete protection, according to WHO.

Despite the excess of floodwater from the White Nile, refugees are sick with dehydration.

South Sudan courtesy of Shannon Jensen. Academic Fair Use.

South Sudan courtesy of Shannon Jensen. Academic Fair Use.

According to the Amherst-based Global Water Policy Project in the United States, about 36-percent of Africa’s population lacks access to safe drinking water. By 2025, the United Nations Development Program estimates that about one in two Africans will be living in countries that are confronted with water scarcity.

This water stress indicates that each person in the country has access to less than 1,500 cubic meters of water every year. In cases of water scarcity, this amount is reduced to 1,000 cubic meters.

This situation leaves Sudanese vulnerable to contracting waterborne diseases like diarrhea and Cholera in addition to the already rampant malaria.

The livelihood of Sudan depends on the use of its water sources. Eighty per cent of the country works in agriculture, and this accounts for 97 per cent of its water use, according to The Water Project.

The 22-year civil war that ended in 2005 left the health infrastructure of South Sudan in a poor condition, according to the Malaria Consortium, and non-governmental organizations have provided a range of health support while the infrastructure improves.

Kahriman says that while South Sudan is dependent on the health care from NGOs, “significant improvement [was] made this year in coordinating support to primary health care services, and jointly developed long-term strategy for health sector. This has brought together the government, key donors (USAID, World Bank and DFiD) and implementing NGOs.”

Southern Sudanese leaders fought for autonomy after more than two million southern Sudanese had paid for freedom with their lives. Another four million were displaced during the twenty-two years of guerilla warfare before the peace accord was established.

South Sudan remains to be one of Africa’s least developed countries as indicated by The Least Developed Countries Report 2011, determined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.