Failed crops bring suffering to South Kordofan displaced

A failed agricultural season means thousands of the displaced people from Abbasiya town of South Kordofan and the neighbouring villages are facing dire humanitarian conditions coupled with a severe shortage of food.

Most of them fled to Abbasiya from their villages following the outbreak of war in the state in 2011.

An elder of the displaced people who now lives on the outskirts of Abbasiya told Radio Dabanga that the cause of the current food crisis is the failure of the agricultural season last year, along with the rise in prices of essential commodities in the markets.

The sheikh said the shrinking of the agricultural projects that has increased displacement and insecurity and contributed to the aggravation of the suffering of the displaced persons in South Kordofan.

Child labour

He said the deterioration of the situation has prompted families to send their children to work in the market in marginal jobs to help them after leaving school.

He said “the suffering is threatening a real humanitarian catastrophe in the coming months if the humanitarian organisations do not intervene in the delivery of aid to South Kordofan.”

He confirmed to Radio Dabanga the stop of all the health centres in the areas where the displaced persons have moved to. They are suffering badly in getting medication and treatment which prompts them to use Kait plant paper and Neem trees for medication and treatment.

Mortality

He said that this year has seen the highest mortality rate among children of the displaced families because of their inability to get treatment and medication.

He has pointed in this regard to the prevalence of thyroid disease among the displaced people, especially in the central and south-western area of Abbasiya town due to lack of iodine in the water, and that there is a severe shortage of drinking water.

He said that there are villages with a population of more than 3,000 people sharing a single pump to get water where the women must walk for several kilometres to get a tin of water.