South Sudan In Food Crisis

South Sudan, Africa – While there are significant improvements since the May reports, the situation is much worse compared to a typical year at harvest time. 1.5 million people are projected to remain in Phase 3 (Crisis) and Phase 4 (Emergency) through December 2014, including one-third of the population of Greater Upper Nile. These populations have
made it through conflict, displacement, and a harsh lean season in 2014 by relying on coping mechanisms, including traditional kinship sharing and distress asset depletion. As a result, their resilience into 2015 is expected to be very weak, particularly if new shocks occur.
The outlook for 2015 is of great concern, with 2.5 million people projected to be in Crisis or Emergency from January to March 2015, including nearly half of the population of Greater Upper Nile. Severe challenges include early depletion of household food stocks, dysfunctional markets, loss of livelihoods, and displacement – all resulting from protracted conflict. In the absence of funded and planned humanitarian interventions for 2015, phase classifications for January to March were unable to factor in assistance as a mitigating factor.