The National Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says there will be no famine in South Sudan according to the latest food security reports this month.
But there is fear that more than 2.5 million people might become food insecure by March next year, if the current situation is not reversed.
Minister of Agriculture, Beda Machar Deng was addressing a news conference in Juba, when he said there is an improvement in food security in South Sudan.
He said, the latest Integrated Phase Classification indicates that there is no famine in the country.
“The Government based on the results of the latest ICP analysis would like to clearly state that there is no famine in the country. This is a technical proof therefore we advise against the irresponsible use of the word famine by the stakeholders including the media. Nevertheless, the government acknowledges the concern of the ICP projection for 2015 and urges all the actors to scale up their effort in the coming months in order stop deterioration of food in security and malnutrition within the Republic of South Sudan”, said the minister.
However, the ministry said that Greater Upper Nile will be affected by famine if the current situation is not reversed.
“In Greater Upper Nile due to displacement, planting has been reduced below normal land sizes, which may impact overall serial production, and could lead to the first stock depletion. According to the IPC analysis conducted this month in South Sudan earlier this month only, 1.5 million people are projected to remain food insecure through December 2014”, said Machar.
The Integrated Phase Classification is evidence – based approach, which uses international standards to classify the nature and the level of food insecurity in a region or country.