SOUTH SUDAN is once again on the brink of famine, the United Nations warned yesterday in a report on the civil war-torn country.

More than six million people, up by about 40 per cent from a year ago before a famine was briefly declared, are at threat without aid, says the joint report with South Sudan’s government.

It says 150,000 people in 11 counties in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Western Bahr el Ghazal states could slip into famine this year.

“These are unprecedented levels of food insecurity,” warned senior UN world food programme officer Ross Smith. He said a political solution in South Sudan was needed so that its people can rebuild their lives.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the five years of civil war and more than two million have fled the country.

South Sudan declared famine a year ago in two counties where 100,000 people faced starvation. After a rapid aid response, further crisis was averted and the famine declaration was lifted in June.

But the UN continues to describe the situation as critical.

“I just move from one place to another looking for food,” resident Chol Makuey told the Associated Press in one of the worst-affected areas, Ayod County, in December.

Cradling her severely malnourished one-year-old daughter, Ms Makuey said the fighting had prevented her from farming, forcing her instead to wander through villages begging friends and family to share their rations.

Aid workers warn that, if the situation persists, even with food aid, more than 30 counties in South Sudan could face severe hunger by May, requiring large-scale assistance.

And the UN humanitarian response plan for South Sudan has received less than 4 per cent of its funding for 2018, with a gap of more than £1.2 billion.

President Salva Kiir ordered unrestricted access for aid groups last year, but aid workers say the situation hasn’t changed and the current dry season could make it worse.

“Continued human rights violations, including blocking of civilian access to food by both the government and opposition forces, have led to severe food insecurity,” said Amnesty International researcher Alicia Luedke.