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South Sudan

South Sudan - Food insecurity contributes to malnutrition (DG ECHO, FewsNet, IPC) (ECHO Daily Flash of 13 January 2025)

  • While December-January is supposed to be the best period of the year in terms of food security in South Sudan, 6.1 million people (45% of the population) face crisis level of food insecurity or worse. There is particular concern for the area of Malakal, where a high share of the population is facing extreme conditions due to limited availability of and access to food and income sources coupled with deteriorating water, hygiene and sanitation (WaSH) conditions.
  • In parallel, the rapid spread of the cholera outbreak is driven by the deplorable WaSH conditions, particularly in camps and settlements and the weakness of the health system, while the country faces still more new arrivals from Sudan. (78,000 people officially registered in December 2024, twice the 2024 monthly average arrival).
  • Food insecurity, combined to high level of vulnerability linked to displacements and to cholera, is fuelling malnutrition: almost 2.1 million children will be severely undernourished by June 2025, including 650,000 expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition.