SUDAN: Increasing hunger could fuel conflict in south

Photo: Peter Martell/IRIN

Southern Sudanese women drag bags of grain to a central collection point in the village of Pochalla, Jonglei State

An increasing number of people in Southern Sudan cannot find enough to eat or adequate pasture and water for their livestock, raising fears of conflict between communities over grazing lands, local leaders warned.

“Where there was peace, there was no rain and then where there were good rains, there was insecurity,” Kuol Manyang, governor of Jonglei State, said.

His counterpart from Upper Nile State, Gutlauk Deng Garang, warned that hunger would force pastoralist cattle herders to move their animals, sharply increasing the likelihood of clashes with rival ethnic groups.

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