Jonglei minister tells citizens to prepare for hunger next year

October 11, 14 (BOR) – The population in South Sudan’s Greater Upper Nile region should brace themselves for severe hunger in 2015 due to poor harvest, Jonglei’s agriculture minister warned on Saturday.

Jonglei state’s minister of agriculture, Mayen Ngor, showing officials the tractors recovered in the capital, Bor, on 11 April 2014 (ST)

Mayen Ngor said the country could face severe famine as a result of the current conflict, which has displaced over 1.3 million people.

Crop pests and diseases, he said, also contributed to poor harvests.

“We are expecting hunger to happen in 2015. What we need to do now is to put up measures to control it and one of the measures is to increase food production by going for second season planting”, said Ngor.

“This will reduce hunger in areas where people have less to eat next year”, he added.
The minister urged citizens to plant vegetables and maize along river banks.

“If we make it like this, our people in both government and rebel control areas will have enough to eat in the year 2015”, said Ngor.

He appealed to international aid agencies to provide seeds to people in rebel and government-controlled areas for early planting next year, days after they warned of looming famine in South Sudan.

(ST).