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SOUTH SUDAN / FAMINE FOOD AID
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / FAMINE FOOD AID
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: WFP / FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19-20 JANUARY 2017, TEREKEKA VILLAGE, TEREKEKA COUNTY /18-23 MAY 2017, GANYIEL UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
23 MAY 2017, GANYIEL UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
1 Various shots, children being screened for malnutrition
2. Med shot, WFP and FAO heads with malnourished child
3. Various shots, malnourished children
18 MAY 2017, GANYIEL UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
4. Wide shot, WFP plane dropping vegetable oil
5. Med shot, interior of WFP plane dropping supplies
6. Various shots, collection of vegetable oil from drop-zone
23 MAY 2017, GANYIEL UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
7. Wide shot, WFP and FAO heads watching parachute airdrops
8. Various shots, WFP and FAO heads inspecting food distribution
9. SOUNDBITE (English) David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Famine is literally just a matter of miles from here and because of the cooperation, the partnership, it’s amazing to see people getting the food in conditions that are tough. But this is an area that is stable right now, you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, but every day that we can be here, is another day that we prevent famine.”
10. Various shots, WFP and FAO heads inspecting FAO distribution of fishing kits, vegetable seeds and gardening tools.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
“This all about we are preserving lives, we are preserving the livelihood where they live and teaching them how to survive in those very difficult conditions. We are saving lives.”
19 JANUARY 2017, KERERI VILLAGE, TEREKEKA COUNTY, SOUTH SUDAN
12. Various shots, FAO distribution of fishing kits and training to get fish, eat and sell
20 JANUARY 2017, TEREKEKA VILLAGE, TEREKEKA COUNTY, SOUTH SUDAN
13. Wide shot, residents fishing
14. Med shot, resident collecting catch
15. Various shots, fish market
18 MAY 2017, GANYIEL, UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
16. Various shots, women preparing and cooking WFP sorghum
All parties to the conflict in South Sudan must cease violence and work together to ensure that food and other lifesaving support can reach people to end famine and severe hunger, the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday (23 May).
FAO’s José Graziano da Silva and WFP’s David Beasley made their appeal during a visit to Unity State, one of the areas in South Sudan worst hit by the current hunger crisis.
Around 5.5 million people in South Sudan, or almost half the population, face severe hunger, not knowing where their next meal is coming from ahead of the lean season, which peaks in July. Of these around one million people are on the brink of famine.
Of those 5.5 million, more than 90,000 South Sudanese face starvation with famine declared in parts of former Unity State. This unprecedented situation reflects the impact of ongoing strife, obstacles to delivering humanitarian assistance and declining agricultural production.
Graziano da Silva and Beasley stressed that an immediate, massive response is critical, combining emergency food assistance and support for agriculture, livestock and fisheries.
In the former Unity State, Graziano da Silva and Beasley visited people in several places who are being supported by the two agencies as they cope with the hunger crisis. They met with people facing famine on the remote Kok Island, a refuge in the Nile River where many people have sought shelter from fighting. They witnessed WFP planes airdropping lifesaving food for tens of thousands of people in Ganyiel, where regular distributions of humanitarian aid have kept famine at bay. The two agency heads saw aid workers from international and local partner organizations distributing WFP food and nutrition treatments, as well as seeds and fishing kits from FAO.
In Rumbek, in the former Lakes State, Graziano da Silva and Beasley met with families, witnessing first-hand how they are trying to cope with the crisis.
While the situation in Rumbek is not as dire as in other parts of the country, hunger and malnutrition are serious concerns. The two UN agency heads visited an FAO project aiming to provide women farmers and pastoralists with a place to safely process milk for their families and to sell it. It also offers a space for community training.
With malnutrition levels rising inexorably across the country, the project is an innovative way to increase the availability of safe, quality milk and milk products, which are a major dietary staple for people and a source of protein vitamins and minerals – essential components for a healthy diet.
Graziano da Silva and Beasley underscored the need for the international community to further support the humanitarian efforts in South Sudan. Additional funding is needed for food distribution, improving nutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, providing agricultural inputs, including seeds, fishing kits and animal vaccination.
Together, FAO and WFP face a funding gap of around US$182 million for the next six months, and are struggling to raise funds to meet skyrocketing needs in several crises around the world.
WFP aims to assist at least 4.1 million people this year in South Sudan, including lifesaving food for people in remote areas who would otherwise have practically nothing to eat, as they have been cut off by fighting. WFP provides special treatments that help mothers and young children fight off malnutrition. WFP also provides cash assistance to help people buy their own food in parts of the country where there is food in shops but prices have soared so much that the poorest people are unable to get enough to feed their families.
So far 2.9 million people have benefitted from FAO’s dry season livelihood assistance, and FAO is currently distributing crop seeds and organizing seed fairs with the aim of benefitting up to 2.1 million people by the end of the main planting season. To date almost 200,000 people have received vegetable and fishing kits in famine-stricken Unity State alone.
In addition, a vaccination campaign has treated some 1.8 million livestock against diseases so far this year, and will reach up to 6 million by year end. FAO is also scaling up the distribution of fishing kits in critical famine areas where people are living in swamps and who are in desperate need of sources of food.
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