South Sudan cabinet to convene emergency meeting over looming food crisis
March 16, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s cabinet is set to convene an “emergency meeting” immediately after the country’s president, Salva Kiir, returns from a trip to the Bahr el Ghazal region, a senior official told journalists on Friday.
Minister Joseph Lual Acuil said the emergency meeting would discuss, among other things, a budget to transport the South Sudanese people who remain in neighbouring Sudan, as well as the current food shortage, particularly in the tribal-conflict affected state of Jonglei and in the border states of Unity, Upper Nile, Warrap, West and Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
Acuil made the remark days after the Ministry of Agriculture declared 2011 farming season a failure due to severe crop failures and the resulting rocketing of food prices.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, the post-harvest assessment of the 2011 farming season, which it said was characterised by below normal and poorly distributed rainfall, indicated a reduction in total crop production of more than 70%.
Responding to the precarious situation, Acuil, the official said by Monday they are going to have an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss how to address the issue of the food shortage and crisis.
“Last year’s rainfall was a disaster,” said Acuil, adding that the citiznes of South sudan could not be blamed for the situation as rainfall was what “God decided”,
He explained that the current food crises was one of the reasons he travelled to New York and Geneva December 2011 with heads of different humanitarian organisations in the country.
He also observed that prices of basic food items including meat have risen considerably, but hastened to stress that this cannot be attributed to the rainfall.
He attributed this to the fact that although predominantly the meat being consumed in South Sudan comes from the nation’s cattle, the foreigners who sell meat back to the South Sudanese are making a considerable mark-up.
He also revealed that the minister of finance had approved 15 million SSDG (US$5.6 million) to initiate transport of South Sudanese citizens who are in neighbouring Sudan.
Of the budget, 5 million SSDG (US$1.9 million) will be used to transport 5,000 South Sudanese citizens who are currently in Egypt and 10 million SSDG (US$3.7 million) will be used for the transportation of those in north Sudan explained Acuil. The buget is pending the approval of the cabinet.
(ST)