State provides some food aid to Eastern Equatoria, food crisis continues

Central Equatoria aims to help starving people in Kapoata and Budi but cannot solve the problem on their own, the State Minster of Social Development Mary Apai said.

The support we provided is not enough to stop the food crisis, so we urged the National Government and NGOs working on humanitarian issues to continue supporting the hunger victims,” Apai said.

She said that the 50 tonnes of items provided by CES government include maize, sorghum, beans to cooking oil.

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by Mary Samuel Apolo | in SocietyShe confirmed that the government of Central Equatoria State will continue to support victims of the famine which hit Kapoata in February, killing 10 people.

In February, regional commissioners went to Juba to push for support from the national government and humanitarian agencies. The region’s extended famine has left thousands malnourished.
 
The Commissioner of Kapoata North Martin Lokai Iko warned that the situation on the ground had sharply deteriorated. Malnutrition has reached its highest peak and there is mortality,” he said. This is now beyond our control. I am appealing to the National Government and World Food Program to urgently intervene.”

Iko blamed the widespread shortages on drought killing crops. We reported the drought to the Ministry of Agriculture but there was no way to ease it,” he said. We are now seeing the impact of the drought.”

He urged businessmen in Central Equatoria and other states to sell cereal to residents of Kapoata. People have money -- but nothing to buy. There is high demand for food especially flour,” he said. We need immediate support from any source.”  

National Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Deng Lual Achuil asked the World Food Program (WFP) for help. He blamed the commissioners for not reacting soon enough to the pending crisis. Don’t wait until people start dying, report such situations earlier so that they can be brought under control,” said Achuil.

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by Robert Obetia Okuga | in Economics He added that WFP is poised to provide a food convoy to Kapoata but they were impeded by the nation’s poor road network. Infrastructure problems may hamper the distribution across the region.

According to the United Nations Development Program 2012 report, food insecurity exists despite abundant natural resources. Misguided policies, weak institutions and unsatisfactory markets are to blame for the problem, not a lack of food, the report said. Women bear the brunt of the insecurity, it reported.

Drought and destructive heavy rainfall have also taken their toll, killing crops in many part of the country.