Serge Tisot, FAO representative [Right] Isaiah Chol, head of National Bureau of Statistics [center] and Joyce Luma, WFP’s Representative address the press in Juba on Wednesday 21st June, 2016. PHOTO//Viola Elias/Eye Radio

There is no more famine in parts of former Unity state, according to the latest report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

This development comes four months after the National Bureau of Statistics and two UN agencies declared famine in the country.

The IPC report was updated by the government, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and other humanitarian partners.

The UN organizations say famine can only be declared when very specific conditions are met: at least 20 percent of families in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 percent; and the death rate per day exceeds two adults out of every 10,000 in the population.

“The accepted technical definition of famine no longer applies in former Unity State’s Leer and Mayandit counties where famine was declared in February,” a statement released by the FAO, based on the IPC report, says.

“In two other counties deemed high risk in February – Koch and Panyijiar – immediate and sustained humanitarian assistance most likely played a significant role in preventing further deterioration into famine,” it adds.

The IPC report says famine eased after a significant scale up in the humanitarian response.

It, however, says the situation remains dire across the country as the number of people struggling to find enough food each day has grown to 6 million – up from 4.9 million in February – and is the highest level of food insecurity ever experienced in South Sudan.

It further says 45,000 people in former Unity and Jonglei states are still experiencing catastrophic conditions and face the prospect of starvation if humanitarian assistance is not sustained.

“This includes 25,000 people in former Unity State and 20,000 people in Jonglei where the situation has rapidly deteriorated because of displacements triggered by conflict and last year’s poor harvest,” it stated.

The IPC scale projects that the number of people facing emergency levels of hunger – one step below famine – is 1.7 million up from 1 million in February.

“The crisis is not over. We are merely keeping people alive but far too many face extreme hunger on the edge of a cliff,” said FAO’s Director of Emergencies Dominique Burgeon.

“The only way to stop this desperate situation is to stop the conflict, ensure unimpeded access and enable people to resume their livelihoods,” he added.

The three UN agencies warned that the gains made in the worst hunger hot-spots must not be lost.

They say people’s ability to feed themselves has been severely eroded and continued life-saving emergency food and livelihoods support must continue to prevent a shift back to famine.

For its part, UNICEF says more than one million children are estimated to be malnourished because most parts of the country remains inaccessible due to insecurity.

“Food insecurity is a key issue, but so is lack of health care, poor water and sanitation and, most crucially, access to those children in need of treatment. Too many parts of the country remain cut off due to insecurity, leaving hundreds of thousands of children on the cusp of catastrophe,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF Representative in South Sudan.

Acute malnutrition remains a major public health emergency in several parts of South Sudan, with surveys showing Global Acute Malnutrition prevalence above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent, with a peak of 26.1 percent in former Duk County in Jonglei State.

“The situation is expected to deteriorate even further as the lean season peaks in July – the time of year when household food supplies typically run out before the next harvest,” the statement further said.

The UN agencies say the increase in food insecurity has been driven by armed conflict, below-average harvests and soaring food prices as well as the effects of the annual lean season.

“In the south-west, until recently the country’s bread basket, there are unprecedented levels of hunger caused largely by conflict. Farming communities have been driven over the border into neighboring countries, leaving behind untended fields, and analysts forecast a record high national cereal deficit for 2018,” they said.

They also say hunger has flared on the western bank of the Nile River in the country’s north-east corner, after renewed conflict triggered large displacements and a disruption to livelihoods, markets and humanitarian assistance.

This year, UNICEF, WFP and partners say they have scaled up the deployment of Rapid Response missions, which use helicopters and air drops to reach cut-off communities.

“Since February, 25 missions have been completed in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, reaching more than 40,000 children,” they said.

For its part, FAO says it has provided fishing, crop- and vegetable-growing kits to more than 2.8 million people, including 200,000 in the famine-affected areas, and vaccinated more than 6 million livestock to save lives through livelihoods.

“The gains made in the famine-affected counties show what can be achieved when sustained assistance reaches families.  But the job is far from done,” said Joyce Luma, WFP’s Representative and Country Director in South Sudan.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification however said 6 million people are still in need of urgent assistance, despite efforts made to contain famine. It said that this is the greatest number of food insecure people ever recorded in South Sudan.