The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF have warned of a rapidly worsening hunger crisis in South Sudan, where 7.8 million people—around 56 percent of the population—are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between April and July 2026. This includes a sharp rise in the most extreme conditions, with 73,300 people facing Catastrophe levels of hunger, alongside 2.5 million in Emergency and 5.3 million in Crisis conditions.
The agencies report that the crisis is being driven by escalating conflict, mass displacement, economic decline, climate shocks, flooding, and weak agricultural production. These factors are severely limiting food availability and access, while rising prices and disrupted markets are further reducing household purchasing power. In several regions, such as Jonglei, large-scale displacement has cut communities off from humanitarian assistance.
Child malnutrition has reached alarming levels, with 2.2 million children aged six months to five years currently acutely malnourished, an increase of 100,000 in just six months. Around 700,000 children are projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form, while 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are also acutely malnourished, increasing risks for both mothers and infants.
Humanitarian conditions are further deteriorating due to damaged health and nutrition services, supply shortages, funding gaps, and disease outbreaks such as cholera, malaria, and measles. The agencies also warn of a credible risk of famine in parts of Upper Nile and Jonglei states if conflict continues and humanitarian access remains restricted.
FAO, WFP, and UNICEF are calling for urgent international action, including sustained funding for food aid, nutrition services, healthcare, clean water, and sanitation. They also stress the need for safe and unhindered humanitarian access and stronger protection for civilians, warning that without immediate large-scale intervention, South Sudan risks an irreversible humanitarian catastrophe.
