A fall armyworms invasion in South Sudan threatens to cause further damage to the country’s farming, worsening food shortages in the war-torn country where half the population is already facing hunger, a Food and Agriculture Organization official warned.
The pests have caused havoc in large parts of the continent, from Ghana to South Africa, since arriving on the continent from the Americas last year.
Felix Dzvurumi, the head of the FAO’s agriculture department in South Sudan has said that the pests have destroyed corn, sorghum and pasture.
The government and the United Nations agency are seeking $1 million from donors to investigate the effects of the South Sudanese outbreak that started in June, he said.
“It has quite a big potential impact on the food security of the country,” Bloomberg reports Dzvurumi to say.
South Sudan descended into war in December 2013 following President Salva Kiir’s accusations that his then deputy Riek Machar was plotting a coup against his government. Machar denied the accusations but then went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
A peace deal signed in 2015 between the warring factions has continually been violated, with clashes in Juba in July forcing Machar and his men to flee.
Machar is currently in South Africa where he went to seek medical attention, but has not been able to get back to his country. The UN and regional leaders earlier this year said his return would not help in the pacification process.
