**4.3 Prospects**

The food security and nutrition situation in South Sudan has been deteriorating in recent years due to the outbreak of conflicts, below par food production, disruption of markets and trade, hyper-inflation, diseases and natural disasters such as floods and drought in parts of the country. With the ongoing macroeconomic crisis including the rapid depreciation of the South Sudanese Pound, hyper-inflation and the surge in food prices, urban food insecurity remains a grave concern. To illustrate the point, an assessment was conducted in Juba urban areas (including Kator, Juba town, and Munuki) in September 2017, to understand the food security and nutrition status of the urban population, comprising some 1371 households. The survey provided representative estimates of key food security and nutrition indicators for the Juba urban population as well as each of the three blocks within the greater Juba urban area.

The key findings of the assessment were [40]:

	- It was established that most households got their drinking water from unsafe sources such as rivers (69%) and surface reservours (31%)

**85**

*Food and Nutrition Security in East Africa (Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan): Status…*

• Results indicate worsening household food consumption and nutrition for Juba residents thus driving households to apply severe coping strategies. This seems to be driven by currency depreciation (72%), high food prices (69%) and

• The food insecurity situation in the three blocks of greater Juba urban area was 67% in Juba town, and 84% and 79% in Kator and Munuki peri-urban areas,

The situation in the greater Juba area should apply to most parts of the country as the conflict and other socio-political factors remain similar. Lack of extension services, certified seeds and other inputs compound food and nutrition security

• Endeavour to stop the continuing economic crisis and hyperinflation amidst

• Integrate vulnerable households into programmes that aim to raise their food

• Reduce the adoption of disruptive and non-reversible coping mechanisms which result in detrimental effects on future household productivity and ability to stand up to shocks. Programmes targeting the most vulnerable

• Deliver relief while further scaling up the social transfers to the poor and most

• Continue scaling up programmes for the treatment of malnutrition as well as the application of the common public health measures such as vaccination, deworming, supplementation and improvement of water and sanitation. Disease prevention is crucial for the improvement of the nutrition situation given that findings showed that incidence of diarrhoea was related to child

• Endeavour to maintain the current peace and reconciliation so that the disruption of livelihoods stops, in a country that has probably the most promising future based on the considerable petroleum and gas deposits, rich agricultural

Due to lack of data on malnutrition is South Sudan, the estimates for 2020 give the stunting rate for the under-5 s as 31.3%, while wasting for the same age group is 24.3% [41]. The percent of children 6–24 months of age that are breastfed is 45.6%, which is lower than the East African Region level of 59.7%. The data on birth weights, poverty level and under-nutrition is lacking. However, iron deficiency anemia in women is estimated as 34%. The above data was obtained by modeling by

In conclusion, the formation of a Government of National Unity by President Salva Kiir and his nemesis Dr. Riek Machar is critical as they work towards ending

The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and its partners should:

households to build their resilience should be prioritized

soils, and, the highest forest cover in all of East Africa.

stagnant or falling income levels of market-dependent households.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95037*

violence (50%).

respectively.

attainment in rural areas.

**4.4 Recommendations**

malnutrition

UNICEF/World Bank group [41].

and nutrition security situation

vulnerable segments of the population

*Food and Nutrition Security in East Africa (Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan): Status… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95037*


The situation in the greater Juba area should apply to most parts of the country as the conflict and other socio-political factors remain similar. Lack of extension services, certified seeds and other inputs compound food and nutrition security attainment in rural areas.
