09 March 2017 - Starving communities in Southern Unity have received a boost of 8,000 fishing kits from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The distribution in the areas of Mayendit, Leer and Koch will help increase local food production,” said Serge Tissot, FAO representative in South Sudan.

Tissot told Radio Miraya that priority is given to areas struck by the famine and those facing severe food insecurity, with further plans to distribute up to 150 dozen fishing kits to communities in South Sudan this year.

The United Nations declared a famine in parts of Southern Unity on 20 February, increasingly blaming the lack of food and the collapsing economy on the conflict.

Recently returned from a visit to Ganyiel, Mr. Tissot said he witnessed communities in remote areas surviving on ‘water lilies’ and ‘wild grass, ’and said the fishing kits will help the people balance their diets with additional protein.

The FAO representative notes the kits may not be sufficient, highlighting security limitations faced by humanitarian actors in accessing more people in need. 

About 100,000 people in South Sudan are facing starvation, and an additional one million are on the brink of a famine, according to the UN.

The total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis. A formal declaration of famine means that people have already started dying of hunger.

Listen to the entire interview with FAO Representative Serge Tissot  here