Good rains improve food security in Sudan

IRIN: Food security in many parts of Southern Sudan is set to improve after good rains, according to recent crop and precipitation assessments. Some 2.4 million people in Southern Sudan received aid from the UN World Food Programme in June, during the lean season between harvests.

Now, harvesting of early crops of maize and groundnuts has begun in Eastern and Central Equatoria, Lakes, Warrap, Unity, Northern and Western Bahr el-Gazal regions, according to the Food and Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), a project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“In most parts of these areas, rainfall has been above average and better than in 2009, though dry spells of varying duration or localized flooding have occurred in some areas, with impacts ranging from minimal to moderate,” according to FEWS Net’s latest Food Security Outlook.

“Food security in these areas is expected to significantly improve at the end of September to mid-October, when the main short-cycle sorghum harvest will be at its peak or just concluded in the most food-insecure areas,” it said….

USAID photo of farming in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan