Returnees families station at a school in Manyo County. (Courtesy).

A humanitarian official in Manyo County of Upper Nile State said more than 70,000 people are facing severe hunger following a dire food shortage in the area which has seen an influx of displaced persons from Sudan.

Mr. Jelaw Ongel, the County Director of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) said the affected population includes the host communities and returnees who fled the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

The most impacted areas include Wadakona, Thorgwang, Kedgwang, Kaka, Kowj, and Atedhwai, where thousands of people are struggling to survive without adequate food supplies.

Mr. Ongel stated that the region faced a difficult farming season this year due to insufficient rainfall, further exacerbating the food shortage.

He said the area has run out of food, and they continue to receiving more returnees every day, but no humanitarian assistance has been provided since August.

“In Manyo County, we have a large number of returnees in the area who fled the war in Sudan and there are daily delegations because of the situation in Sudan,” he said.

“They settled with us in the county headquarters and some of them in the villages and some populations from Kordofan who settled in Kaka, Kouj, Atidway and all the areas, and currently their situation is very bad because of the famine.”

Ongel said there is a need for immediate humanitarian intervention to prevent the crisis from escalating further as the number of people in need continues to grow.

He added that the local population cannot withstand this any longer and the situation may lead to deaths if the humanitarian actors do not intervene.

He called on humanitarian agencies to intervene urgently with food supplies.

“The situation in Mang County currently requires urgent intervention and rescue with food supplies, because the situation cannot be delayed any longer, so we appeal to humanitarian organizations to rescue the situation, at least to assess the situation and come quickly.”