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WFP South Sudan Country Brief, November 2020

Countries
South Sudan
Sources
WFP
Publication date

In Numbers

17,100 mt of food and nutrition assistance distributed*

USD 5.5 m in cash-based transfers made*

USD 325.9 m six months (December 20 – May 21) net funding requirements

1.4 m people assisted in November 2020

Operational Updates

  • In November, WFP provided food and nutrition assistance to 1.4 million people through general food assistance (GFA), nutrition and resilience activities in South Sudan.

  • More than one million people have been affected by flooding since June across South Sudan. WFP is targeting flood-affected people in need of food assistance through GFA: 550,000 people were reached with food assistance in November.

  • The FAO-WFP early warning analysis of food insecurity hotspots was published in October 2020, warning on a potential deterioration of the key drivers of food insecurity that are conflict, consecutive natural shocks, worsening economic situation as well as severe constraints to humanitarian access, posing a threat to the food security situation in parts of the country. WFP is looking at how best to scale-up its operations, with limited resources and increased needs.

  • Each year, WFP prepositions food and nutrition items in areas that will become inaccessible with the onset of the rainy season. The 2021 prepositioning window will be shorter than normal with continued poor road conditions due to heavy floods this year and the impact of COVID-19 on delivery lead times. WFP is calling on partners for early and timely contributions to support the prepositioning exercise. Once roads are closed, WFP must deliver food by air which is seven times more expensive than delivering by road.

  • The local currency depreciation is keeping food prices high, with the price of white sorghum, a staple food, increasing by 6 to 20 percent in November in several markets across the country. However, the seasonal harvest in Maban, Upper Nile, and Yida, Unity, contributed to a drop of 20 and 13 percent respectively, in white sorghum prices.