Famine has been declared in parts of South Sudan, where UN agencies warned on Monday that war and a collapsing economy have left 100,000 people facing starvation.

A further 1 million people were classified as being on the brink of famine, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN bodies. Unimpeded humanitarian access was urgently needed to reverse “an escalating catastrophe”, they added.

How to donate: South Sudan famine and Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria food crises Read more

The famine is the first to be declared since 2011 in Somalia, where more than a quarter of a million people are estimated to have died between October 2010 and April 2012.

The UN has warned that three other countries - Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria - are at risk of famine.

Famine has been declared in parts of Unity State in the northern-central part of South Sudan. The formal announcement means people have already started dying of hunger.

Three years of civil war has devastated hopes that the oil-rich country would prosper when it gained independence from Sudan at the end of one of Africa’s longest running conflicts. Unity State, which borders Sudan, has been at the centre of some of the fiercest fighting, while tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes in the face of a government offensive against opposition-held areas.

The worsening crisis in South Sudan comes as three other countries - Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria - are at risk of looming famines, agencies have warned.

About 4.9 million people – more than 40% of South Sudan’s population – are in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update released on Monday by the government, humanitarian organisations and the WFP, The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the UN children’s fund, Unicef.

The IPC update, which was based on information built up over recent months, added that the total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.

Serge Tissot, FAO representative in South Sudan, said: “Famine has become a tragic reality in parts of South Sudan and our worst fears have been realised. Many families have exhausted every means they have to survive.

“The people are predominantly farmers and war has disrupted agriculture. They’ve lost their livestock, even their farming tools. For months there has been a total reliance on whatever plants they can find and fish they can catch.”

The IPC report, which assessed 23 of South Sudan’s 86 counties, estimates that 14 have global acute malnutrition (GAM), a measurement of the nutritional status of a population, at or above the emergency threshold of 15%. In some areas it was as high as 42%.

WFP country director Joyce Luma said: “This famine is man-made. WFP and the entire humanitarian community have been trying with all our might to avoid this catastrophe, mounting a humanitarian response of a scale that quite frankly would have seemed impossible three years ago.



“But we have also warned that there is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security, both for relief workers and the crisis-affected people they serve.”



Food production in South Sudan was devastated by an upsurge in violence last year while soaring inflation – up to 800% year-on-year – and market failure have have left its people struggling to cope with massive price rises on basic food items.

Relief operations have been underway across South Sudan since the start of the conflict. The IPC assessment found that aid had lessened the risk of famine in other regions of the country, including Northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

The WFP said it plans to provide food and nutrition assistance to 4.1 million people during this year’s “hunger season” - when food from the last harvest has run out but new crops haven’t come in yet - including emergency food, cash and nutrition assistance.

Unicef, which said more than 1 million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished across South Sudan, plans to treat 207,000 children for severe malnutrition this year.</s>Famine has been declared in two counties of South Sudan, according to an announcement by the South Sudan government and three UN agencies, which says the calamity is the result of prolonged civil war and an entrenched economic crisis that has devastated the war-torn East African nation.

The official classification of famine highlights the human suffering caused by South Sudan's three-year civil war and even as it is declared President Salva Kiir's government is blocking food aid to some areas, according to UN officials.

More than 100,000 people in two counties of Unity state are experiencing famine and there are fears it will spread as an additional one million South Sudanese are on the brink of starvation, said the announcement.

"The concern is not just about the 100,000 civilians that are facing famine at the moment," said Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba. "There are about one million more people that are on the brink of famine.

"Also, one out of every three households in South Sudan is currently facing food insecurity."

READ MORE: South Sudan spends budget on fighting as people starve

"Our worst fears have been realised," said Serge Tissot, head of the Food and Agriculture Organization in South Sudan.

He said the war has disrupted the otherwise fertile country, causing civilians to rely on "whatever plants they can find and fish they can catch".

'Man-made famine'

Roughly 5.5 million people, or about 50 percent of South Sudan's population, are expected to be severely food insecure and at risk of death in the coming months, said the report.

It added that nearly three-quarters of all households in the country suffer from inadequate food.

If food aid does not reach children urgently "many of them will die," said Jeremy Hopkins, head of the UN children's agency in South Sudan.

Over 250,000 children are severely malnourished Hopkins said, meaning they are at risk of death.

It is not the first time South Sudan has experienced starvation. When it fought for independence from Sudan in 1998, the territory suffered from a famine spurred by civil war.

Anywhere from 70,000 to several hundred thousand people died during that famine. But Monday's declaration of starvation is solely South Sudan's creation, and a UN official blamed the country's politicians for the humanitarian crisis.

"This famine is man-made," said Joyce Luma, head of the World Food Programme in South Sudan. "There is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security."

"This famine is not caused by draught, it is not caused by floods," Al Jazeera's Morgan said. "It is basically caused by the conflict which resulted in a collapsing economy."

"The conflict made it impossible for many people to farm, especially in the equatorial regions, which was previously stable until the conflict broke out in July."

Nowhere else has civil war caused such a drastic decline in South Sudan's food security than in Central Equatoria state, according to the report.

WATCH: South Sudan aid - Many in desperate need of food (2:21)

Traditionally South Sudan's breadbasket, Central Equatoria has been hit by fighting and ethnically targeted killings that began in July 2016 and have displaced over half a million residents and disrupted agricultural production.

South Sudan's widespread hunger has been compounded by an economic crisis, as well. South Sudan is experiencing severe inflation, which has made food unaffordable for many families.

"There is 800 percent inflation in this country at the moment, food market prices have become unaffordable for a lot of people," Al Jazeera's Morgan said.

When The Associated Press news agency visited the western town of Aweil in September, the price of food had risen ten-fold in the previous 12 months.

Although it is not as significant as the effects of war and inflation, some of South Sudan's hunger crisis is the direct result of the government's action.

South Sudanese government officials have blocked or placed constraints on the delivery of food aid to areas of the country, according to a UN official who insisted on anonymity because of lack of authorisation to speak to the media.

But Al Jazeera's Morgan said the reason behind the lack of humanitarian access is a lot complicated.

"There is fighting between the government and various armed groups," she said.

"So it is quite hard to bring humanitarian aid to the areas affected by this famine. Humanitarian organisations do not know who is operating some parts of the country at any given time, they don't know how to communicate with people in charge, and this causes some kind of a barrier for humanitarian aid."

South Sudan's rural demographics is also an obstacle in front of food aid, Morgan said.

"Most civilians are basically in the bush, most of South Sudan's population, 70 percent, is in the bush. It is very hard for the aid to reach these people."

On Monday, the UN agencies said that unimpeded humanitarian access "is urgently needed".

Tens of thousands of people have died since civil war broke out in December 2013, and the UN warns that South Sudan is at risk of genocide.

Since fighting in the capital of Juba killed hundreds of people in July, the war has uprooted more than three million people.

UN officials have contested that hunger in South Sudan is even more shocking because of the country's fertile land conditions. During her farewell briefing in November as head of the UN mission, Ellen Loj said that South Sudan has the resources and climate to feed itself.

"When I am flying up country, I am always surprised to see all that fertile land and there is not anything," Loj said.

"You could feed yourself plenty and I hope peace will come to South Sudan."</s>(CNN) Here is some background information about famine, a severe and prolonged hunger in a significant portion of a region or country's population that results in malnutrition and death by starvation and disease.

To assess a country's food security, the United Nations uses the five-phase scale known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)

Famine can stem from natural causes such as droughts, floods, earthquakes , insect plagues and plant disease. It can also stem from man-made causes such as wars, civil disturbances, sieges and deliberate crop destruction.

Famine results from a triple failure of food production, access to food and response.



Undernutrition - The outcome of prolonged insufficient food intake and/or low absorption of food consumed. This generally applies to energy levels, but may also relate to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Malnutrition - A general term for a range of circumstances that inhibit good health, caused by insufficient or unbalanced food intake or from poor absorption of food consumed. The term refers to both undernutrition (food deprivation) and overnutrition (excessive food consumption with regards to energy requirements).

Food security - Exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

Food insecurity - Exists when people lack access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food, and therefore do not consume enough for an active and healthy life. The situation may result from unavailability of food, inadequate purchasing power, or inappropriate food distribution at the household level.



Crude mortality rates exceed two deaths per 10,000 people per day.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is less than 18.5, where prevalence far exceeds 40%.

Less than four liters of safe water available per person per day.

Percentage of the Population in a Condition of Undernourishment: 

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

1990-1992 - 27.6% of Africa, 23.6% of Asia, 14.7% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.7% of Oceania

2000-2002 - 25.4% of Africa, 17.6% of Asia, 11.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 16.5% of Oceania

2005-2007 - 22.7% of Africa, 17.3% of Asia, 8.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.4% of Oceania

2010-2012 - 20.7% of Africa, 13.5% of Asia, 6.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 13.5% of Oceania

2014-2016 estimates - 20.0% of Africa, 12.1% of Asia, 5.5% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 14.2% of Oceania 27.6% of Africa, 23.6% of Asia, 14.7% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.7% of Oceania25.4% of Africa, 17.6% of Asia, 11.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 16.5% of Oceania22.7% of Africa, 17.3% of Asia, 8.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.4% of Oceania20.7% of Africa, 13.5% of Asia, 6.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 13.5% of Oceania20.0% of Africa, 12.1% of Asia, 5.5% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 14.2% of Oceania



1921-1922 - Famine in the Soviet Union, results in nine million deaths.

1927 - In China (northwest), three to six million perish.

1929 - Famine in China (Hunan Province), results in two million deaths.

1932-1933 - In the Soviet Union (Ukraine), seven to eight million people die.

1943 - Famine in China (Henan), results in three to five million deaths.

1946-1947 - In the Soviet Union, two million people die.

1984-1985 - Ethiopian famine, affects more than eight million people and results in approximately one million deaths.

1991-1993 - Somalia famine, after the government's fall and civil war, affects more than three million people.

September 5, 2011 - The United Nations announces that famine has spread to the sixth area in Somalia and about 750,000 people are in danger of imminent starvation.</s>Also on Monday, three UN agencies, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joint press release that the lives of some 100,000 people in South Sudan were endangered due to starvation.

The civil war in South Sudan, waged between President Salva Kiir’s supporters and opposition forces, has been lasting since 2013 and has made approximately 3.5 million people displaced, according to information by the United Nations from February 10.

In late January, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said the food insecurity in South Sudan was triggered by ongoing conflict undermining economic development, high food prices and restricted humanitarian access.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!</s>(CNN) Here is some background information about famine, a severe and prolonged hunger in a significant portion of a region or country's population that results in malnutrition and death by starvation and disease.

To assess a country's food security, the United Nations uses the five-phase scale known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)

Famine can stem from natural causes such as droughts, floods, earthquakes , insect plagues and plant disease. It can also stem from man-made causes such as wars, civil disturbances, sieges and deliberate crop destruction.

Famine results from a triple failure of food production, access to food and response.



Undernutrition - The outcome of prolonged insufficient food intake and/or low absorption of food consumed. This generally applies to energy levels, but may also relate to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Malnutrition - A general term for a range of circumstances that inhibit good health, caused by insufficient or unbalanced food intake or from poor absorption of food consumed. The term refers to both undernutrition (food deprivation) and overnutrition (excessive food consumption with regards to energy requirements).

Food security - Exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

Food insecurity - Exists when people lack access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food, and therefore do not consume enough for an active and healthy life. The situation may result from unavailability of food, inadequate purchasing power, or inappropriate food distribution at the household level.



Crude mortality rates exceed two deaths per 10,000 people per day.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is less than 18.5, where prevalence far exceeds 40%.

Less than four liters of safe water available per person per day.

Percentage of the Population in a Condition of Undernourishment: 

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

1990-1992 - 27.6% of Africa, 23.6% of Asia, 14.7% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.7% of Oceania

2000-2002 - 25.4% of Africa, 17.6% of Asia, 11.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 16.5% of Oceania

2005-2007 - 22.7% of Africa, 17.3% of Asia, 8.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.4% of Oceania

2010-2012 - 20.7% of Africa, 13.5% of Asia, 6.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 13.5% of Oceania

2014-2016 estimates - 20.0% of Africa, 12.1% of Asia, 5.5% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 14.2% of Oceania 27.6% of Africa, 23.6% of Asia, 14.7% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.7% of Oceania25.4% of Africa, 17.6% of Asia, 11.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 16.5% of Oceania22.7% of Africa, 17.3% of Asia, 8.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 15.4% of Oceania20.7% of Africa, 13.5% of Asia, 6.4% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 13.5% of Oceania20.0% of Africa, 12.1% of Asia, 5.5% of Latin American and the Caribbean, 14.2% of Oceania



1921-1922 - Famine in the Soviet Union, results in nine million deaths.

1927 - In China (northwest), three to six million perish.

1929 - Famine in China (Hunan Province), results in two million deaths.

1932-1933 - In the Soviet Union (Ukraine), seven to eight million people die.

1943 - Famine in China (Henan), results in three to five million deaths.

1946-1947 - In the Soviet Union, two million people die.

1984-1985 - Ethiopian famine, affects more than eight million people and results in approximately one million deaths.

1991-1993 - Somalia famine, after the government's fall and civil war, affects more than three million people.

September 5, 2011 - The United Nations announces that famine has spread to the sixth area in Somalia and about 750,000 people are in danger of imminent starvation.</s>The "Global Food Security Index" found that the United States, Denmark, Norway and France led the world in food security thanks to ample supplies, high incomes, low costs for food relative to other expenditure and significant research and development concentrated on food production.

The least secure nations were largely found in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nigeria and Mozambique.

The index is aimed at ranking and measuring food security in 105 countries by looking at such things as food affordability, availability, nutritional quality and safety.

DuPont, a developer of genetically altered crops, commissioned the Global Food Security Index as a means of identifying areas where reforms were most urgently needed.

"We've always known that what gets measured, gets done," DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman said in a statement.

The United Nations has said that by 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food to feed a growing population.

Africa has long been an area of concern. In May, the Obama administration said the United States and other members of the G8 group of industrialised countries were working with African leaders to increase agricultural investment and enhance productivity.

The food security index commissioned by DuPont was launched by the Economist Intelligence Unit, an advisory and forecasting research firm.

Among its findings: While the average individual needs 2,300 calories per day to live a healthy and active life, in wealthy nations there is enough food for each person to eat 1,100 calories above that benchmark. In low-income countries, national food supplies fall, on average, 100 calories short.

The index - foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/ - also indicated that China experienced the least volatility of agricultural production during the last 20 years.

Kullman said the index should promote collaboration to help feed the growing population.

"To ensure that efforts are laser-focused to deliver real solutions, we needed a tool to inform decision making and facilitate a common language," she said. (Reporting By Carey Gillam; Editing by Ron Popeski)</s>Catapult is providing four fully paid Community Scholarships on the Catapult Leadership programme for 2017. Each scholarship is worth more than $5,400 and there are four programmes a year.

Last year there were over 50 applications and the successful applicants were:

Here’s what two of them had to say:

Absolutely life changing. The programme provided me with the tools, support and confidence to be a better leader in both my work and home life. Without a doubt the most practical, inspiring and fun programme I have ever attended.” 

 Belinda van Eyndhoven

“By attending the Catapult Leadership programme, I was equipped with a best-practice toolkit that I was immediately able to apply to increase my leadership effectiveness. This course is absolutely the best choice for new and existing leaders to improve themselves and their organisations.” 

 Scott Miller</s>The UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday nearly 1.4 million children were at “imminent risk” of death in famines in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Famine was formally declared on Monday in parts of South Sudan, which has been mired in civil war since 2013. People are already starving to death in all four countries, and the World Food Programme says more than 20 million lives are at risk in the next six months. The United Nations defines famine as when at least 20 percent of households in an area face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 percent, and two or more people per 10,000 are dying per day.

Here are details about some of the major famines around the world in the last 100 years:

In 2011, Somalia suffered a famine that killed 260,000 people in south and central regions. The famine was declared in July, but most people had already died by May. Years of drought, that have also affected Kenya and Ethiopia, have hit harvests and conflict has made it extremely difficult for agencies to operate and access communities in the south of the country. U.N. declared Somali famine over in February 2012 following an exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies.

From 1995-1999 between 2.8 million and 3.5 million people died because of a combination of flooding and government policy in the reclusive state.

The Marxist policies of Mengistu Haile Mariam, which he began abandoning in 1990 with some economic reforms, left a country ravaged by economic decline, famine and regional conflicts that consumed half the state budget. In 1984-85, in the famine, up to one million Ethiopians starved to death. For months in 1984, Mengistu denied the devastating famine in Ethiopia’s north. Aid workers later recalled he flew in planes loaded with whisky to celebrate the anniversary of his revolution, as hunger deepened. Bob Geldof, after watching pictures of the famine, organised Live Aid in 1985 to try to alleviate the hunger. Watched by 1.5 billion people, it raised $100 million for Africa’s starving.

Up to 2 million died of famine following a decade of conflict, first during the 1970-1975 civil war, then during the brutal Khmer Rouge era until 1978 and finally in the aftermath of the Vietnamese invasion that ended Khmer Rouge rule in 1979.

Between 10 and 30 million people died as a result of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s. His plan involved modernizing agriculture and increasing grain production however officials often exaggerated the size of harvests, and in many places the entire grain harvest was seized. China’s leaders appeared to have been unaware of the severity of the famine as from 1958 until 1961, China doubled its grain exports and cut imports of food.

Up to 8 million people died as a result of Josef Stalin’s massive industrialisation programme in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s, during which the government seized grain for export. It needed the hard currency to buy industrial equipment. When people in the Ukraine reported a famine, Stalin punished them by refusing to send them food aid.</s>A former West Lothian food operator has been banned from being involved in the management of any food business.

Previous owner of Hong Restaurant in Pumpherston, Mr Pui Lung Wan (also known as Colin Wan) received the prohibition at Livingston Sheriff Court on February 9, following a report by

West Lothian Council’s Environmental Health team regarding food safety failures at the business.

The case followed a visit to the premises on August 24, 2015, by officers to carry out a routine food safety inspection. The condition of the premises and food safety practices were a concern and officers had to take action to stop food being prepared.

Read more: West Lothian MP wins battle for new independent aviation body

Officers were concerned regarding the poor standards of cleaning throughout the premises, the poor handling of food and risks of contamination, and the staff working without supervision or suitable food safety training.

A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Mr Wan had received previous warnings regarding the safe operation of this business, and unfortunately the continued failure to operate safely required our Environmental Health officers to take action.

“The Sheriff has recognised the potential dangers posed by this business operator and taken appropriate action.

Read more: Council tax in West Lothian could be set to rise after West Lothian Council revenue budget discussions for 2017/18

“It is however disappointing that there are still people running food businesses who don’t care about the safety of their customers and are unwilling to do basic things to keep food safe.”

The business has been inspected on a number of occasions since August 2015, and continues to require further action by officers to ensure standards of safety improve. It currently has an Improvement Required rating in terms of the food hygiene information scheme.

The food hygiene scheme exists to help members of the public know if their local food businesses were complying with food safety standards at the last inspection, or not.

Further information about the scheme and links to information for businesses can be found at www.westlothian.gov.uk/food</s>* Grain prices up 12 pct this year, near 2008 record

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 Global food prices remained stable, though close to 2008 record levels, the World Bank said on Thursday, as it warned that a "new norm" of costlier food was setting in and threatening to increase hunger and malnutrition in the world's poorer regions.

In an update of its quarterly "Food Price Watch" report, the World Bank said the absence of "panic policies," such as food export restrictions, had helped stabilize commodity prices since price spikes in July.

"Even as the world seems to have averted a global food price crisis, a growing sense of a 'new norm' of high and volatile prices seems to be consolidating," the World Bank said. "The world cannot afford to get used to or be complacent with high and volatile food prices."

The World Bank food price index shows that while prices have stabilized they are 7 percent higher than a year ago.

In particular, grains are up 12 percent from a year ago and close to the all-time high set during a global food price crisis in 2008, when food riots broke out in Asia and Africa.

The worst droughts in more than half a century in the United States corn belt and food basket regions of the Black Sea pushed up the global prices of wheat and maize this year, at a time that the world economy was slowing and Europe has been engulfed in a debt crisis.

On Nov. 8, the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its food index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 213 points in October, down two points from the reading in September.

U.N. agencies have estimated that some 870 million people are chronically malnourished. Eradicating hunger is one of the eight U.N. Millennium Development Goals, or MDG's, to reduce global poverty.

The World Bank urged governments to strengthen safety nets for the poorest and ensure that nutrition was factored into the help given to poor households.

"More resources, better data and sound policy choices continue to be needed to end hunger for the world's 870 million hungry people," the Bank said.

Otaviano Canuto, World Bank vice president for poverty reduction and economic management, also urged countries to boost investment in agriculture to increase food production, which would help reduce prices.

The World Bank and other development lenders have increased financing for agriculture in developing countries, a sector that had long suffered from under investment. The 2008 food price and energy crisis, however, highlighted the need for more investment in food production.

A swelling middle class in fast-growing emerging economies like China has added to rising demand for more food supplies.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and other United Nations agencies declare that there is a famine in parts of Unity State, South Sudan, with 100,000 facing starvation and another million on the brink of famine.