UN emergency food aid agency spotlights shortages in southern Sudan

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), expressing concern about food shortages in parts of Sudan, today said it would try to double the number of people it would feed in drought-stricken southern Sudan, as the return of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) swells the population.

The WFP was trying to feed 520,000 people in the southern province of Bahr-el-Ghazal this month, compared with 274,0000 last month, despite funding shortfalls, WFP spokesman Simon Pluess told journalists at the UN complex in Geneva.

Bahr-el-Ghazal experienced a poor harvest last year, leading to increases in the prices of basic staples, while displaced people and refugees were returning there in response to the peace agreements reached in the south. WFP said it expected 68,000 tons of food to be distributed in the province this year.