UN agencies seek to strengthen food security in S. Sudan

Two UN agencies said Thursday they have kicked off seed distribution in South Sudan to help vulnerable refugees and families as part of efforts to strengthen their food security.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said they have distributed seeds and agricultural tools to 200,000 refugees and their host communities across South Sudan to help them become more self-sufficient in a country facing a serious food crisis.

Serge Tissot, FAO Representative said South Sudanese lack the resources to buy the things they need to start planting and need support to be able to produce their own food.

"These distributions have been very timely since the planting season has just started," Tissot said in a statement issued in Juba.

"It is vital to strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the long-term so that they can become more resilient, absorbing shocks and increasing their access to food through their own means," it said.

The two UN agencies have jointly this year contributed 186 tons of crop seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, hand tools and fishing kits for refugees and local communities in Unity, Upper Nile, Jonglei, Central Equatoria and Western Equatoria.

This donation, the agencies said, will enable communities to start planting their cereals and replenish their stocks, in so decreasing food shortages.

Assessments have shown that the food and nutrition security situation is worrying in many parts of the country, including in Upper Nile - a region hosting four refugee camps and South Sudan's largest refugee population of 134,000 Sudanese refugees.

A nutrition survey, conducted in late 2015, found that Upper Nile's Maban refugee camps registered higher levels of malnutrition compared to 2014.

This was particularly the case in Doro camp, where the rates of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) and Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) were respectively 15.5 percent and 2.6 percent - above UNHCR standards of 10 percent and 2 percent.

"To quickly respond to high malnutrition rates we are distributing nutritious food for children under five years and all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers," UNHCR Representative Ahmed Warsame said.

"We are pleased to announce that these interventions are working well, but we are also looking beyond quick-fix solutions that help refugees become more self-reliant and less dependent on humanitarian assistance in the long run," Warsameh added. Endit