More than half of the households in Juba are food insecure, according to the United Nations for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

OCHA estimates that more than 260,000 people in the capital now have no enough food.

It says this is the finding of a survey it conducted with other partners.

However, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs says the government has not yet agreed to the figures.

In a report released after every two weeks, OCHA says more than 90 per cent of households have reduced the number of meals they eat per day while 53 per cent spent entire days without eating.

The report also says that adults have reduced their own food consumption in order for small children to eat.

According to the report, the rate of borrowing food, eating unusual wild foods and skipping meals for days, has more than tripled compared to last year.

However, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs says his ministry received the report, but is still studying its details.

“They reported [to us] last week, during a humanitarian forum, but we told them that we would first sit down with the technical team to analyze the figure,” Peter Gatwech told Eye Radio Thursday.

He continued, “In this regard, we are now calling the technocrats and the secretaries of the government institutions and the DGs to discuss it.”

UNOCHA says the worsening food security situation in Juba is mainly due to a high rate of inflation and loss of employment opportunities.

It says food insecurity is likely to worsen until April next year and is expected to rise even further between May and July.