REACH to Conduct Nutrition Survey in South Sudan’s Akoka County Amid Worsening Malnutrition Crisis
Credit: CARE
The REACH Initiative is set to conduct a Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) survey in Akoka County, Upper Nile State, to assess the severity of malnutrition and guide humanitarian interventions in one of South Sudan’s hardest-hit areas.
The survey comes as Akoka remains classified under IPC Acute Malnutrition Phase 5 (Extremely Critical), with an estimated Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate of 27.8 percent, nearly double the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent. The county is also classified under IPC Acute Food Insecurity Phase 4 (Emergency).
According to the technical protocol, the assessment will cover all accessible areas of Akoka County and collect data on child malnutrition, mortality, food security, water and sanitation, maternal nutrition, disease prevalence, immunization, and infant and young child feeding practices.
REACH said the survey is necessary because conflict, displacement, flooding, disease outbreaks, disrupted markets, and limited humanitarian access have worsened food insecurity and nutrition conditions across Upper Nile State. The findings are expected to fill critical information gaps and support evidence-based humanitarian planning and response.
The assessment will use the internationally recognized SMART methodology, with 312 households selected through a two-stage cluster sampling approach across 32 clusters. Data collection will be carried out by six survey teams using digital tools, with training scheduled to begin in June 2026.
REACH said the survey findings will help humanitarian agencies, government institutions, and donors prioritize nutrition interventions, strengthen emergency response efforts, and contribute to future Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analyses for South Sudan.
