Half of South Sudanese hungry, as famine looms again

This malnourished child was one of hundreds seen at a nutrition centre in South Sudan last year [File, Standard]

Nearly half of the population in war-torn South Sudan is experiencing extreme hunger, with many more set to run out of food as famine looms, government and UN agencies said Monday.

A year after South Sudan became the first country in six years to experience famine, due to a drawn out civil war, its National Bureau of Statistics warned that 40 percent more people were going hungry this year, even before the lean season sets in.