South Sudan’s Hunger Crisis: Over 2 million people reached through multi-sectoral programming

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

One year on, the World Vision East Africa Hunger Emergency Response in South Sudan has made many strides in reaching the most vulnerable children. With a target of over 1.7 million people in 21 counties of Warrap, Upper Nile, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Central Equatoria States where IPC 4 and IPC 5 were reported. The response has reached 2,159,324 people, over 755,000 were children.

According the Food Security Nutrition Working Group, in 2022, approximately 1.34 million children under five years old are to suffer from acute malnutrition based on the results of the Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief Transitions (SMART) nutrition surveys. The highest burden is from Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Western Bahr el Ghazal States.

Farmers like Adut were provided with seeds and tools, and were trained on climate-smart agriculture. Leading the other women organized in her community equipped them to deal with the crisis and national disasters, and protect their families. Read story.

The multi-faceted effects of hunger has prompted World Vision to focus on multi-sectoral programming. A hungry child coupled with lack of sufficient water to enhance good hygiene practices is more prone to disease. A child that is sick will need immediate medical attention to arrest further progression of the disease. A household that does not have income will neither afford food nor medical care.

Continuous hunger and lack of proper nutrients will lead to children’s malnutrition. Parents that are looking for food to feed their families will not prioritize educating their children. Families that are looking out for all options to survive may adopt negative coping practices like child marriage, child labour etc.

Savings groups also play a key role in enhancing resilience in communities. During this hunger crisis, women were empowered and mobilized to lead preparedness and stronger livelihood efforts. Watch video.

The key drivers of acute food insecurity revolve around displacement leading to depletion or loss of assets; economic crisis – weaker value of the local currency leading to high food prices, natural hazards – climate shocks such as floods and dry spells.

Collectively, the effects of these drivers is reduced income not only for purchasing food and essential needs but also for improving the quality of life in all sectors.

Adaptive crop trials and educating farmers and community leaders help strengthen their understanding of the crisis, what are the resources available around them and how to protect themselves from various shocks and the hunger crisis.

Based on this situation World Vision’s hunger response in South Sudan adopted a multisectoral approach consisting of the following interventions;

Food Assistance support, provision of cash assistance, children at school receiving hot meals, equipping men and women with food security and livelihood knowledge and skills.
Livelihoods inputs/ kits distribution such as vegetable seeds, fishing kits and animals.
Children under 5 were reached with support through primary health care facilities through curative consultations,
Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) and MIYCN program launch availed by 112,515 children aged 6-59 months.
Provision of psycho social support to children through implementation of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), community members were also reached through awareness sessions and access to child protection information.
Protection education, services and prevention of GBV sessions were conducted targeting adults, with support from faith and community leaders.

For greater impact and outreach, faith actors were engaged to promote awareness on hunger related issues. Underlying all these interventions was peace building initiatives to enhance social cohesion of communities that World Vision serves in the hunger response.

Local faith leaders and various local groups were also tapped to support in further spreading awareness among communities. Community clashes were adding to the challenges of the people and a robust peacebuilding activities help build understanding and reconciliation. Read story.

World Vision recognizes that it is mostly through multi-sectoral programming that the most vulnerable children can be given a holistic chance at thriving. The country's hard-to-reach areas do not have the luxury of having fully functioning facilities.

On closer analysis of community feedback trends, it was evident that communities began to request for longer term interventions alongside short term interventions. These included but were not limited to request for support to education, mental health services and flood mitigation measures.

Of the 2,159,324 persons reached across the country, 997,549 were in Greater Upper Nile, 1,098,919 in Greater Bar el Ghazal and 62,855 in Central Equatoria States.

Strengthening education, protection and gender-based violence initiatives, and children's participation in issues and crises affecting them, help them understand and support their own communities and families. Watch video.

Check and download your copy of our Hunger Crisis Case Studies.

Written by Enid K. Ocaya, Humanitarian Emergencies and Cash Programs Manager I Photos by Communications Coordinator Scovia Faida Charles Duku and Consultants Eugene Combo and Christopher Lete.