The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) and the WFP Technical Support Unit (WFP TSU), in association with Save the Children (SC UK) and FAO, issue periodic Warnings when a food crisis is developing, where groups are now, or about to become, highly food insecure and take increasingly irreversible actions that undermine their future food security.
Decision makers should urgently address the situations highlighted by this Warning.
Food Security Deteriorates in Parts of Pibor County
Food security has significantly deteriorated for about 20,000 people in the Lokongole area of Pibor County since March-April as indicated by widespread livestock deaths and significant numbers of malnourished children.
The Lokongole area of Pibor County in Upper Nile region (Figure 1) experienced erratic rainfall during April and May, leading to much below-normal vegetation conditions in May (Figure 2) that both reduced the availability of pasture and made livestock more vulnerable to diseases. About 50 percent of animals were reported to be in either poor or weak condition in June. Many have died. According to COOPI, a livestock NGO, the primary causes of livestock deaths are disease and lack of access to veterinary services. This shock to the livestock sector has jeopardized the food security of about 20,000 people in the following ways.
Figure 1: Lokongole Area of Pibor County
Figure 2: Vegetation Index in 2003 compared with Long-term Vegetation Index, Lokongole
- Illness has reduced milk yields by over 50 percent of normal amounts expected following a drought year -- yet milk is the primary source of food for young children in March -- July period.
- Loss of livestock has sharply cut household productive assets. Preliminary estimates indicate losses as high as 60 percent of animals that did not move to graze in other areas.
- Loss of livestock has deprived households of access to meat as livestock that died from deadly diseases, such as foot and mouth, cannot be consumed.
Herding households normally migrate with their livestock within Pibor Country, alternating between dry season (December -February) and wet season (March-November) grazing areas. Following particularly dry years, such as 2002, almost all herding households migrate to Bor and Pochalla Counties in search of better grazing, returning to Lokongole when the light rains regenerate pasturelands. Some households left Pibor County earlier than usual in November but, for reasons that are still unclear, a significant proportion of Lokongole population did not leave at all, despite worsening conditions at home. These households often faced food shortages that they tried to make up through additional hunting of wild game and slaughter of livestock.
Due to the sudden high losses of livestock and reduced access to milk and meat, the food shortages are likely to be higher than illustrated for very poor households (Figure 3). Although vegetation has steadily improved since the end of May, the food security situation is not likely to improve significantly soon. The harvest is not expected till September and crops contribute much less to the food basket than all other food sources. The consequences are alarming. A nutrition survey conducted by Action Against Hunger in late May found Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates of 32.5 percent of children under 5 (GAM greater th an 15 percent is "critical," according to WHO standards, calling for general food distributions). The survey also found Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) rates of 6.8 percent (any SAM is considered "life threatening," calling for therapeutic feeding). FEWS NET and the WFP/TSU have warned since November that farming households would become highly food insecure in Pibor County following failure of crops in the main agricultural areas. Worsening food security was also expected to affect pastoral households but at a lower magnitude. The recent nutrition survey conducted by ACF and a rapid assessment conducted by WFP/MEDAIR confirmed that food insecurity has deteriorated in Lokongole, but the food security situation of other households in the rest of Pibor County is currently unclear. As part of an emergency response, FAO and other livestock agencies vaccinated and de-wormed remaining livestock in June. FAO provided seeds for 2,000 households. WFP provided food aid for the affected population in May.
Figure 3: Sources of Food for a Very Poor Household in a Very Poor Year in Lokongole
Time Line of Critical Events
Recommendations
- Food aid agencies should maintain their current level of general food aid support until food security improves, as measured by follow -up nutrition surveys. This support should include supplementary and therapeutic feeding and related health programs to improve the nutrition of children in the area. MEDAIR is currently feeding severely malnourished children but remains constrained by lack of resources. There is an urgent need for other agencies and donors to provide emergency funds to establish proper feeding programs.
- Food security agencies, such as WFP and its partners working in Pibor County, should urgently conduct detailed food security assessments in all areas of Pibor to better understand the situation.
- Food security, nutrition and health agencies operating in Pibor County should closely monitor conditions for the next four months (through the harvest) to detect changes.
- Agencies operating in Pibor County should monitor the impact of their various interventions to verify that these are having the desired impact.