UN farm agency: South Sudan can avoid famine with help

The UN's food and agriculture agency says South Sudan could avoid a new famine next year if farmers receive more food, seeds and livestock this rainy season.

Around 100,000 people face starvation in South Sudan, where crop production has plummeted since 2013 as conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced 3.5 million from their homes.

Food and Agriculture Organization chief Jose Graziano da Silva said today that "this is the time for farmers to plant.

They don't have seeds. They have eaten the seeds. Even the seeds that the FAO provided last month, they have eaten them." During a visit to drum up support at EU headquarters, Da Silva warned that if farmers "lose their cattle, their goats ... they will move out, they will become migrants."

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)