Food insecure family. | Courtesy of UN.

The International Rescue Committee has warned that the already alarming levels of hunger and acute malnutrition in South Sudan are expected to intensify due to depleting food stocks and high food prices on local markets.

IRC said in a report that families are already seen going days without food in several parts of South Sudan as they take extreme steps to cope with the situation.

It further warned that without a significant increase in support in South Sudan, more than half of the country’s population are expected to experience hunger by the end of 2024.

The humanitarian organization said 79,000 people will likely experience starvation especially in returnee and refugee-hosting states.

“Families are taking extreme steps to cope, even going days without food,” said Caroline Sekyewa, IRC South Sudan Country Director.

“Malnourished children that survive this crisis will likely experience stunted growth and challenges in mental development. Urgent nutritional interventions are needed to reduce mortality rates, particularly among vulnerable children.”

IRC said it foresee that the situation is being exacerbated by the unusual rainy season which ordinarly runs from late April to October, with severe flooding expected.

It added that children are particularly vulnerable with 1.65 million severely malnourished children under five at high risk of dying if they don’t receive food and nutrition treatment.

In response to the increasingly dire situation, IRC said it is scaling up life-saving nutritional interventions including deploying a rapid response team to support refugees at the Aweil East entry point and transit center in the north west of the country.

It further said despite humanitarian partners scaling up its response to wide-spread hunger, only 30% of the $1.7 billion needed to reduce the suffering has been met in South Sudan.

South Sudan is grappling with catastrophic inflation after the Sudan war damaged facilities transporting the country’s crude oil to the Red Sea, depriving the country of its crucial revenue generator.

This has left the pound currency drastically weakened against the US dollar, and civil servants and members of the organized forces have not been paid for nearly 10 months.

South Sudan has topped the list of countries worst hit by food inflation making it the only with the most expensive food prices globally, according to a World Bank report.

The Food Security Update for this year indicates that food prices in South Sudan stands at an inflation rate of 164 per cent.

Zimbabwe is the second most hit country at 48 per cent followed by Liberia at (16%), Viet Nam (11%), and Haiti is fifth (at 11%).