The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent appeal to donors for early funding to support its 2025 operations in South Sudan. The organization requires $404 million to preposition food and prevent spiraling operational costs and hunger. According to the WFP-FAO Hunger Hotspots report, South Sudan is a country of highest concern, where humanitarian action is crucial to prevent starvation and death.
WFP currently has no food supplies in South Sudan to preposition for next year's humanitarian response. If funding is not received, the organization will rely on expensive airdrops later in the year to reach isolated communities facing severe hunger. Shaun Hughes, WFP's Acting Country Director for South Sudan, emphasized that it takes months to turn pledged donor funds into food in the hands of hungry people in South Sudan.
Funds received before the end of this year will enable WFP to preposition food by road in remote hunger-hit areas during the brief dry season window from December to April. This approach is more cost-effective than airdrops, which can be up to 17 times more expensive than road transport. In 2024, WFP had to double the amount of food delivered by airdrops, adding $30 million to overall operational costs.
Acute food insecurity in South Sudan is likely to worsen as the 2025 lean season approaches, driven by high food prices, a severe economic crisis, conflict, and insecurity. The country's limited road networks are impassable for much of the year, particularly in the east and central parts where food insecurity is highest. Currently, 56 percent of the population faces crisis or worse levels of hunger.
WFP has been forced to reduce the number of people it reaches in South Sudan and the amount of assistance each person receives due to global instability and increasing humanitarian needs. In 2024, only 2.7 million of the 7.1 million hungry people received assistance through the lean season, with most receiving half rations. Reducing operational costs is essential to enable WFP to reach as many vulnerable people as possible.
The delivery options for humanitarian assistance in South Sudan include road, river, and airdrops. However, road transport is only feasible for a couple of months of the year, while river convoys are slow and have limited capacity. In 2019, WFP was able to reduce airdrops by 70 percent when prepositioning was optimized due to generous donor contributions and the timely arrival of food.
The lean season in South Sudan runs from May to August and is the period just before harvest when communities have the least to eat and hunger typically rises. WFP extended its humanitarian assistance to reach more than 1.2 million people impacted by flooding in 2024. The organization is working to prevent starvation and death in South Sudan, where humanitarian action is essential to mitigate the effects of rising hunger.
Key points
- WFP requires $404 million to preposition food in South Sudan ahead of 2025 lean season
- South Sudan is a country of highest concern, where humanitarian action is crucial to prevent starvation and death
- Airdrops are up to 17 times more expensive than road transport and deliver much less cargo in the same timeframe
