[Photo: UN FAO]
Cereal production in South Sudan in 2020 rose by seven percent over 2019 levels because of favorable rains, but cereals remained far below average production levels reached before the conflict erupted in South Sudan in 2013, a new UN report on food security established.
A high cereal deficit expected for 2021 due to the impact of prolonged conflict and floods is leaving millions of South Sudanese extremely food insecure, according to the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
According to the joint report, “Cereal production in 2020 is estimated at 874,400 metric tons, seven percent higher than 818,500 metric tons in 2019. The marginal growth will cover the needs of only a third of the population, leaving most people reliant on humanitarian food assistance and imports of essential grains, at prices beyond the reach of ordinary South Sudanese.”