FAO: Sudan faces worsening food security situation

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)today called for urgent support for farmers and herders in Sudan in order to helpprevent a further worsening of the food security situation in the country. Some 3.3 million people are currently suffering from food insecurity with numberslikely to rise to 4 million in the coming months due to a combination of increasedconflict and displacement in Darfur, refugee movement from neighbouring SouthSudan, poor harvest and spiralling food prices, according to UNFAO.FAO is calling for $19 million for a series of urgent interventions targeting a totalof 5.4 million people. So far it has received only $7 million, leaving a funding gap of$12 million.In some areas of Sudan, existing crisis levels of food insecurity are expected to deteriorate to emergency levels in the coming few weeks, bringing an even higherdegree of acute malnutrition with devastating consequences for vulnerable groups.“Sudan is a forgotten crisis that is only getting worse,” said Abdi Adan Jama, FAORepresentative in the country. “We urgently need to ensure vulnerable herders andfarmers affected by the situation are in a position to regain their livelihoods, feedtheir families, reduce their dependency on food aid and rebuild their lives.”United Nations agencies and partners have so far received only 3.5% of the US $995 million that they requested to carry out urgent humanitarian interventions set outin the Strategic Response Plan for Sudan in 2014.