WFP: More than a million people in South Sudan at risk of losing food aid

More than a million people in South Sudan are at risk of losing vital food aid, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.

Conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and the war in neighbouring Sudan are converging to push millions of people deeper into vulnerability. And cuts to international aid are exacerbating their effects, the UN agency said.

"7.8 million people today, more than half the country's population, struggle to find food each day. 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers require urgent nutrition support," Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Assistant Executive Director for Operations, said at a press conference in Geneva.

"Unless additional resources are secured, more than a million vulnerable people could lose access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance by October. So this is looming.”

The WFP says it’s currently facing a shortfall of $86 million, and a gap of more than $400 million over the next six months.

The funding crisis comes at the height of the rainy season when food becomes scarcer, prices rise and flooded roads make humanitarian access increasingly difficult.

Many families survive by eating less, selling what they own, and cutting spending on health, education and shelter.

"While South Sudan is a country that has faced many challenges in its short life as an independent nation, we are seeing something different now," Hollingworth said. "We are about to drop off a financial cliff at a time when the needs are at the greatest level that they've been at for the past 13, 14 years.”

Food assistance remains essential to averting a humanitarian catastrophe, the agency said, but stressed that it must also serve as a bridge to long-term recovery.

It issued a call to action to the government of South Sudan to to start mobilising its own funds to support its own people.