30/12/199930 November 2018 (Juba) – The Kingdom of Netherlands has contributed an additional $5.5 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the 2019 Emergency Livelihood and Resilience Programme in South Sudan. The Dutch Ambassador in Juba, Janet Alberda, and the FAO Representative a.i in South Sudan, Pierre Vauthier, signed the arrangement on Friday, 30 November, 2018. The funds will be used to support input trade fairs that help farmers to increase the amount of food they produce, reducing hunger in their own households and communities, and to build the resilience of the most vulnerable households to shocks. “The funding from Netherlands comes at a critical time when under the guidance of the UN Partnership for Resilience and Recovery is shifting their efforts to help the people of South Sudan to not only meet their needs but to also help them improve their livelihoods. This support will focus on the resilience component that ensures that farmers have all the necessary tools and capacity to rebuild their livelihoods,” said Janet Alberda, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Juba. According to the September 2018 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, an earlier than normal start of the lean season resulted in an estimated 6.1 million people (59% of the total population) facing worsening food insecurity at the peak of the lean season between July and August 2018, with 47,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger. Levels of acute malnutrition are again expected to increase in the first quarter of 2019 as most households are expected to deplete food stocks from own production. “South Sudan is a country with a lot of agricultural potential with large rural based -agrarian population. Female-headed households make up a significant number of this population who play a crucial role in meeting the basic needs of their communities. In consideration of the ongoing #16 days of activism against gender-based violence, it is important to recognize the fundamental role women play in the development of South Sudan. Not only do we want to see 35% affirmative action for women in South Sudan but we also want to see their capacities strengthened to effectively lead the changes in their communities,” emphasized H.E Janet. The IPC report indicated that extreme levels of acute food insecurity are expected to persist in many areas where poor harvests are likely and access to humanitarian assistance may be limited for a section of the population. Possible returns from within and outside the country as well as insecurity, lack of freedom of movement and the extreme depletion of livelihoods may cause further pressure on already scarce resources. “There is a serious food gap in South Sudan that can only be solved by putting farming first. This funding from the Netherlands is crucial to FAO’s work to strengthen farmers’ resilience and empower them to produce more food. The solution to food insecurity in South Sudan lies with the South Sudanese people and FAO will use this critical support to continue building communities’ resilience to shocks,” said Pierre Vauthier, FAOR a.i. This is the second consecutive funding from the Kingdom of Netherlands to FAO to respond to the needs of the people of South Sudan. In 2018, the Kingdom of Netherlands contributed $7.5 million to FAO’s pool-funded Emergency Livelihood Response Programme in South Sudan, which aims at increasing the ability of 3.9 million of the most vulnerable people to produce their own food by providing them with fishing, crop- and vegetable-growing kits, as well as animal health services such as vaccinations for their livestock.