Kapoeta (South Sudan) -- The G7 summit saw global leaders pledge $4.5 billion to combat food insecurity around the world. Millions of South Sudanese are at risk of starvation and need this help urgently.
CBS News' foreign correspondent Debora patta traveled to one of the most affected areas. Her arrival coincided with the first rain in 18 months, a cause for celebration which saw local children dancing on the streets.
The greenery is a sign of a poor, drought-stricken community. The soil in the surrounding farm fields is extremely dry.
Nachopera Lomuria lived once off the land. But she said to Patta that nothing grows in the dry earth. Lomuria believes that her mother died from starvation last year and she is next.
She said, "If the food stops coming you won't be able to find me alive the next time you come."
She had been dependent on the United Nations World Food Program for her only hope, but it has since been cut.
She admitted, "I'm afraid." "Please keep feeding us."
Adeyinka Badejo, acting country director, told CBS News that the organization had to suspend aid for nearly 2 million people in South Sudan due to rising fuel and food prices during the conflict in Ukraine.
Patta said that "we're having to take the hungry to feed them."
The market is located in Kapoeta. However, it takes many locals a day to reach there. There is also a shortage of grain.
Napir Marko, who was at the market, said that she didn't have any food aid and couldn't afford food.
Patta told her that she heard that they had stopped providing assistance because the White People were at war.
This rumor is based on a lot of fact. Although the market is not far from Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's blockade at Ukraine's Black Sea ports by blocking access has had an immediate impact on South Sudan's food prices. The blockade has prevented Ukraine from shipping vital food supplies to Africa and other countries, despite being a major supplier of grain to the world for many years.
The crisis has caused the South Sudanese to experience a nearly 100% increase in the price of staple goods.
Badejo, the WFP's Head of Operations, told Patta that they don't have enough food as they lack sufficient resources. "The South Sudanese have enormous food needs. Three quarters of the population doesn't have enough food to eat. The ongoing conflict is causing severe hunger in three quarters of the population. Three years of unprecedented flooding in South Sudan have passed. The economic effects of the COVID-19 epidemic are evident, as well as the consequences of war in Ukraine.
Sophie Valentino is one of those feeling the pinch.
She stated, "My main message is to the world to stop unnecessary wars so the U.N. can focus and buy food for the needy countries when there is peace."
As the market has doubled in price, her salary as a high-school teacher is not very affordable.
CBS News interviewed Lomuria in Lomuria's family's scorched field farm. She couldn't afford clothes for her two children. They ran around naked during Patta’s visit.
The last bag of food aid she receives will only last for two weeks.
She kept repeating, "We just need food." You must help us... Tell them that we are hungry."
