The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development climate centre has predicted insufficient rainfall in South Sudan from June to September this year.

The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, or ICPAC, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023,  announced that the June to September 2023 forecast also shows high chances of drier-than-usual conditions across the northern parts of the Greater Horn of Africa.

Accordingly, Djibouti, Eritrea, central and northern Ethiopia, western Kenya, northern Uganda, and much of South Sudan and Sudan are expected to receive insufficient rainfall until the end of the season.

The regional climate body analysis also indicates an increased likelihood of warmer than usual conditions over the entire region, particularly over northern Sudan, parts of southern and central to western Ethiopia, central and northern Kenya, central and northern Somalia, and coastal parts of Tanzania.

Dr Guleid Artan, the regional climate centre director said: “I call for heightened vigilance as the conditions we forecast could very well increase food insecurity in the region. Depressed rainfall, coupled with warmer than usual temperatures, are likely to affect crop productivity, with the risk of crop wilting and a hastened decline in pasture and water availability.“

He appealed to IGAD’s partners to stay mobilized and continue to respond to the crisis where 49 million people are still highly-food insecure in the IGAD region.

Early this month, the centre predicted wetter-than-normal conditions over areas in the eastern part of South Sudan in May 2023.

ICPAC is a designated Regional Climate Centre by the World Meteorological Organization. Its seasonal forecast is based on an analysis of several global climate model predictions customized for the greater horn of Africa.