Saving the Children in South Sudan - Blogcritics.org (blog)

Save the Children staff knew something was wrong. It was last November in Eastern Equatoria of South Sudan, just after the harvest, when it was less likely for families to need food assistance. Malnourished children were still being brought to Save the Children nutrition centers at an alarming rate, though.

Save the Children is treating severely malnourished infants at its nutrition centers in Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei, two states in South Sudan suffering from hunger emergencies. (Save the Children photo)

Crops had failed because of "low and erractic rainfall" according to the United Nations. Families were running out of their usual food supply and were starting to resort to using wild fruits to survive.

Fact-finding missions sent by the UN into parts of Eastern Equatoria confirmed the increasing levels of hunger. It could get much worse too. The upcoming "lean season" between harvests is generally when food supply is at its lowest.

At its Kapoeta nutrition center during January, Save the Children saw 114 infants with severe malnutrition and another 210 children with more moderate malnutrition. Severely malnourished children are given a nutritious peanut paste called Plumpy'nut.

Without the right nutrition infants can suffer lasting physical and mental damage or death. Having enough stock of a food like Plumpy'Nut is essential to humanitarian aid operations. For no long-term solution to ending hunger or building peace can be found with malnourished and stunted children.

Save the Children is also responding to another hunger emergency in South Sudan. Cattle raids in Jonglei, the largest state in South Sudan, have killed or displaced thousands of people who are in need of aid.

These cattle raids in Jonglei took place in Akobo County and are the latest in a series of internal conflicts within the state.