A politician of South Sudan’s warring SPLM-Juba faction warned on Tuesday that food insecurity would worsen in the country in 2015 if conflict does not stop, pointing especially to the greater Upper Nile region where he said more than 2.5 million people will be at risk.

Beda Machar, the senior official in the South Sudanese warring party, said at a news conference in Juba today that displacement in Upper Nile state has caused a reduction in planting, which may impact overall cereal production and could lead to rapid stock depletion.

He pointed to the recent Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) Classification analysis, saying only 1.5 million people are projected to remain food insecure through December 2014, with two-thirds of them in the Greater Upper Nile.

“If new shocks occur, their resilience into 2015 may be weakened. Further, by March 2015, more than 2.5 million people might become food insecure if the current situation is not reversed,” he said.

According to IPC reports, the challenges include early depletion of household food stocks, dysfunctional markets, loss of livelihoods, and displacement, all resulting from protracted conflict, he said.

The report stated that immediate actions should include scaling up humanitarian assistance, including nutrition and livelihood interventions, ensuring safe movement of large volumes of food stocks, and securing a peaceful solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country.

Related:

Document: South Sudan govt seeks to silence famine warnings (5 Aug.)