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TAMBURA, South Sudan –- Pineapple farmer Marko Bagayowya has big plans. He wants to build a juice factory and sell South Sudan-made drinks. He wants to leave his four children an inheritance, something his own father was unable to do. And he wants to build a legacy for his brand-new nation — a land that is rich in oil and agricultural resources, but where people are starving to death.
Conflict broke out in South Sudan in 2013, just two years after the country gained hard-fought independence from Sudan. A political dispute between the new nation’s leaders ignited a civil war that has killed tens of thousands and sparked one of the worst humanitarian crises on the globe.
South Sudan, the birthplace of some of the earliest crop and livestock farming in human history, faces a severe food crisis. The region has long been afflicted by food shortages amid wars with Sudan’s government, economic neglect and seasonal drought and flooding patterns. But last week hunger levels hit a new low in South Sudan: An expert report estimated that 4.6 million people now have dangerously low access to food. With the economy crumbling, aid budgets shrinking and no end in sight to war, the World Food Programme warned the situation could rapidly get even worse.
The war has disrupted farming, drained state resources and sent inflation spiraling. In the capital city of Juba, the price of basic foods has increased up to 70 percent since the beginning of the year. Prices are fluctuating wildly.
