South Sudan famine spreads

Sam Mednick, Associated Press 12:02 a.m. ET April 13, 2017

Abuk Garang, holding her 7-month-old son, William Deng, rests as she walks to a food distribution site April 5, in Malualkuel, South Sudan.(Photo: STR / AP)

Thonyor, South Sudan

South Sudan’s three-year civil war and economic crisis have disrupted farming so much that famine has been declared in two counties and threatens to spread. Millions of people are going hungry and thousands are at risk of starvation, say aid officials.

Leer is one of two counties in South Sudan’s Unity state where famine was declared in February and it’s also on the frontline of the war. The combination of instability and severe food insecurity has caused thousands of people to flee their homes and they are unable to grow their own food, according to aid organizations.

“When fighting erupts, people just keep being pushed out into the swamps,” said Scott Doucet, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross in South Sudan.

This week, the Internation Committee of the Red Cross distributed seeds and tools to 30,000 people in Leer and the surrounding areas. The aim is to provide 54,000 individuals in Unity State with seeds for okra, maize and kodra grain as well as axes and hoes, so they can grow their own crops, and nets to catch some fish.

“The longterm solution isn’t dropping food from the sky,” said Doucet. Although he admitted that due to repeated fighting, realistically it will take years before people stop relying on food drops.

How you can help

Here a few of the agencies offering relief efforts in the Sudan:

Action Against Hunger:actionagainsthunger.org^[1]

CARE:care.org^[2]

ChildFund:childfund.org^[3]

Doctors Without Borders/MSF USA:doctorswithoutborders.org^[4]

International Committee of the Red Cross:icrc.org/en^[5]

International Medical Corps:internationalmedicalcorps.org/programs^[6]

International Rescue Committee:rescue.org^[7]

Mercy Corps:mercycorps.org^[8]

Samaritan’s Purse:samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online^[9]

Save the Children:savethechildren.net/^[10]

Sudan Relief Fund:sudanreliefund.com/ways-to-give^[11]

UNICEF:unicef.org, www.unicefusa.org^[12][13]

References

1. ^{^} http://www.actionagainsthunger.org (www.actionagainsthunger.org)
2. ^{^} http://www.care.org/ (www.care.org)
3. ^{^} http://www.childfund.org (www.childfund.org)
4. ^{^} http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/about-us (www.doctorswithoutborders.org)
5. ^{^} https://www.icrc.org/en (www.icrc.org)
6. ^{^} https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/programs (internationalmedicalcorps.org)
7. ^{^} https://www.rescue.org/ (www.rescue.org)
8. ^{^} http://www.mercycorps.org (www.mercycorps.org)
9. ^{^} http://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online/ (www.samaritanspurse.org)
10. ^{^} https://www.savethechildren.net/ (www.savethechildren.net)
11. ^{^} https://www.sudanreliefund.com/ways-to-give/ (www.sudanreliefund.com)
12. ^{^} https://www.unicef.org/ (www.unicef.org)
13. ^{^} https://www.unicefusa.org/ (www.unicefusa.org)