Between April and July 2026, an estimated 7.8 million people in South Sudan are facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC AFI Phase 3 or above). This represents an increase of approximately 280,000 people compared to the September 2025 IPC analysis. Around 73,000 people are classified in IPC AFI Phase 5 (Catastrophe) and are experiencing extreme food consumption gaps associated with starvation, heightened risk of death, and the collapse of livelihoods. A further 2.5 million people are in IPC AFI Phase 4 (Emergency), facing large food gaps and very high levels of acute malnutrition, while approximately 5.3 million people in IPC AFI Phase 3 (Crisis) are unable to meet essential food needs without resorting to unsustainable coping strategies. 

The nutrition situation has deteriorated sharply in parallel. An estimated 2.2 million children aged 6–59 months require treatment for acute malnutrition, representing an increase of around 90,000 cases since the previous analysis. The number of pregnant and breastfeeding women in need of nutrition treatment has also risen from 1.1 million to 1.2 million.  

Given the deterioration in both food security and nutrition outcomes, a risk of Famine analysis was conducted in high‑risk areas. The analysis identified a risk of Famine in Luakpiny/Nasir and Ulang in Upper Nile State, and Nyirol and Akobo in Jonglei State, under plausible worst‑case conditions.  

The deterioration in both food security and nutrition outcomes is driven by a combination of interlinked factors. Ongoing conflict and displacement continue to disrupt livelihoods and markets, restrict access to productive assets, and isolate populations from essential services. Humanitarian access remains constrained in several areas, while high food prices have eroded household purchasing power. These pressures are compounded by widespread disease outbreaks, poor water and sanitation conditions, and severe funding shortfalls that have reduced the availability of health and nutrition services and led to stockouts of critical supplies. 

Recommended Actions:  

• Advocate for peace: Promote sustained political engagement to reduce violence and tensions, and to re-anchor all parties in the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). 
• Improve humanitarian access: Urge all parties to the conflict to provide sustained access, protect aid corridors, and allow humanitarian staff and supplies to move without intimidation or obstruction. 
• Scale up emergency food assistance: Urgently expand food assistance in IPC AFI Phase 3 or above areas to address widening consumption gaps and prevent further deterioration. Prioritise the most vulnerable parts of the population, which typically include conflict-affected, displaced, and flood-prone populations with limited access to food and markets. 
• Protect and restore livelihoods: Provide timely support to sustain and rebuild livelihoods, including access to agricultural inputs, fishing assets, and livestock services. Prioritise areas with disrupted production systems to support immediate food access and recovery for upcoming seasons. 
• Scale up immediate lifesaving nutrition interventions: Urgent action is required in counties classified in IPC AMN Phase 4 (Critical) and Phase 5 (Extremely Critical), with priority given to locations showing deteriorating trends. The response should focus on expanding Outpatient Therapeutic Programme, Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme, and Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programme services, using mobile and outreach delivery modalities to reach populations in hard-to-access and conflict-affected areas.  
• Restore and sustain nutrition service delivery: Re-establish functional nutrition service points in conflict affected areas where coverage has declined. This includes pre-positioning nutrition supplies and essential medicines where security permits, strengthening last mile delivery systems, and reinforcing frontline workforce capacity to improve service availability and quality. Priority actions should also address prolonged stockouts of essential drugs and nutrition commodities and ensure the timely payment of incentives to health and nutrition staff to restore motivation and retain critical frontline capacity.