Floods, Food Insecurity Drive Malnutrition Crisis in Guit County
Credit: The Guardian
Recurrent flooding, localized conflict and reduced humanitarian funding are worsening food insecurity and malnutrition in Guit County in South Sudan’s Unity State, leaving thousands of children at risk and cutting off communities from essential nutrition services.
More than 76,000 people live in Guit County, where most families depend on subsistence farming and cattle herding. Since 2020, repeated flooding has submerged farmland, destroyed crops such as sorghum and maize, and disrupted livestock-based livelihoods.
The crisis has been compounded by revenge attacks, cattle raids and other localized violence that have displaced communities and further weakened food security.
About 70% of Guit County’s population — more than 53,000 people — are facing crisis or emergency levels of acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
A SMART nutrition survey conducted by Concern Worldwide found that 36.2% of children are suffering from global acute malnutrition, while 9.4% have severe acute malnutrition. The figures indicate an emergency-level nutrition crisis.
Health and sanitation conditions are also deteriorating. Open defecation affects more than 97% of the population, while nearly 40% of young children are reported to be suffering from illness, increasing the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
Only 5.6% of children receive a minimum acceptable diet, according to the assessment.
Flooding and reductions in humanitarian funding have sharply reduced access to nutrition services across the county.
Humanitarian partners previously operated 16 nutrition facilities across all eight payams in Guit. Only 10 facilities remain operational, covering four payams.
Communities in flood-affected areas now face long journeys to reach treatment services, with some locations accessible only by canoe.
In Kuerguine Payam, about 30,000 displaced people are relying heavily on humanitarian assistance and severe coping strategies, including collecting wild waterlilies for food.
The Guit Nutrition Cluster, led by Concern Worldwide in coordination with the Guit County Health Department, has developed a plan to expand life-saving nutrition services to communities cut off by flooding.
The plan calls for the reactivation of mobile and outreach services in Duar, Mala, Zoreang, Gawjal and Majiok, areas that lost nutrition coverage after recent funding cuts.
The response will also expand the Family MUAC program, which trains mothers and caregivers to screen children for malnutrition at home using mid-upper-arm circumference tapes. Children identified as malnourished can then be referred for treatment.
An additional 156 Boma Health Workers are expected to strengthen community screening, treatment and follow-up of children who stop attending nutrition programs.
The response also includes clean water initiatives using solar-powered water yards, hygiene-kit distribution, malaria testing at nutrition sites and kitchen gardens for community support groups.
The proposed response requires more than $1.6 million, but about $1.35 million remains unfunded.
Humanitarian organizations warn that the funding shortfall could leave thousands of malnourished children without therapeutic food, therapeutic milk and essential medical care.
Aid agencies say they are prepared to deploy mobile teams and navigate difficult waterways to reach isolated communities, but urgent donor funding is needed to implement the scale-up plan.
The crisis in Guit reflects the growing pressure on vulnerable communities in South Sudan, where recurrent flooding, conflict, displacement and limited humanitarian access continue to undermine food security and basic services.
