Attachments
South Sudan presents one of the most logistically challenging operations for humanitarian partners to operate due to a limited road network that deteriorates significantly during the rainy season and widespread insecurity. Furthermore, as a landlocked country, WFP relies on regional ports in Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti, and Sudan to move food supplies into the country. WFP uses all means necessary to reach populations in need—using road, river and air options where necessary.
WFP transports food supplies by road from Tanzania and Kenya through Uganda (main gateway) and into southern parts of South Sudan. Moreover, WFP moves food by road, air and river, from Djibouti through Ethiopia into eastern parts of South Sudan and from Sudan through three corridors into northern parts of South Sudan.
WFP airdrops and airlifts food using its fleet of fixed and rotary wing air assets to bring assistance to areas that are not reachable by other means, providing around 500,000 people with life-saving assistance per month. The commodities purchased by the country office include sorghum, maize, pulses, fortified vegetable oil, SuperCereal and SuperCereal Plus as well as the readyto-use supplementary food Plumpy’Sup.
Prepositioning Exercise
Every year, WFP undertakes a massive prepositioning exercise during the dry season while roads are open to ensure that commodities are available in the deep field during the rainy season when roads become impassable. By July, WFP had completed its 2016 prepositioning exercise, strategically placing more than 102,500mt of food, representing about 85 percent of this year’s goal.
For 2017, WFP must once again preposition 115,000mt of food, to ensure uninterrupted food assistance once road access is cut-off during the rainy season, minimizing heavy reliance on costly air operations. As of early June 2017, WFP has prepositioned 111,730mt (98 percent) of food commodities.
Logistics Cluster
The Logistics Cluster, led by WFP due to its global reputation as a logistics expert, provides the humanitarian community in South Sudan with logistics coordination, warehousing, and transport support. In 2016, 118 humanitarian organizations have used Logistics Cluster transport, coordination, information management and warehousing services, with more than 6,600mt of cargo handled over the course of the year. In 2017, the Logistics Cluster seeks to bolster the logistics response by developing stronger partnerships and enhancing efficiencies of humanitarian cargo delivery, including advocacy for prepositioning during the dry season and maximizing the use of available assets for key cargo movements.