Hunger and malnutrition grip Koch county as humanitarian aid suspension continues

KOCH, NOV. 9, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – Residents of Koch County in South Sudan’s Unity State are facing severe hunger and malnutrition due to a prolonged food shortage following the suspension of humanitarian food aid distributions in June this year.

Ruot Riak Teny, coordinator of the Koch County Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), told Sudans Post that the food shortage has been ongoing since June and has led to widespread malnutrition among children and the elderly.

“It is very rare to find a 50-kilogram bag of sorghum,” Teny said during an interview in his office in Koch town on Thursday. “People are now relying on gallons of sorghum, which cost 9,500 South Sudanese pounds each.”

Teny attributed the severe food shortage to the influx of returnees to the county, who are dependent on the host community for food and other essential items.

“Returnees came without food or sleeping materials, and they are sharing food with their relatives,” he stated. “This has exacerbated the food shortage in Koch County.”

Teny urged humanitarian agencies to resume food distributions in Koch County to save the returnees and host community from hunger and malnutrition.

He also called for the government to improve the roads in the county, which have been submerged by floodwaters, making it difficult to transport food and other essential items.