In the early months of 2017, parts of South Sudan experienced a famine following several years of instability in the country's food supply caused by war and drought.

[4] The World Food Programme carried out relief operations throughout the war, mitigating the risk of famine in other areas including the Northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

[5] Bahr el Ghazal had been the region most severely affected in the 1998 famine, when it was struck by a two-year drought, a ban on humanitarian airdrops, restrictions on movement of displaced persons, confiscation of cattle and destruction of food stores.

[9] Looting and burning in Unity State and displacement of its inhabitants in fighting over oil reserves also occurred in the Second Sudanese Civil War in the years leading up to the 1998 Sudan famine.

[12] In February 2015 the World Food Programme noted the potential for drought in South Sudan and other nearby countries due to the developing El Niño event.

Their report found that South Sudan was "experiencing a very good start to the agricultural season" and suggested it might be an exception to a pessimistic regional prediction for July to September 2015.

[14][15] By September 2015, Leer County, the home of rebel leader Riek Machar and future epicentre of the famine, had been rendered devoid of cattle and nearly empty of civilians fleeing massacre and the burning of homes and fields; drought contributed in part by lowering crop yields and in part by reducing the length of a traditional pause in fighting for the rainy season.

[17] In March 2016, the UN reported that the South Sudan Army was being paid not in money but with a "do what you can and take what you can" policy that allowed them to confiscate cattle and other possessions, and even to rape and murder civilian women as a form of salary.

[18] The report described all sides but especially the South Sudan government SPLA forces and allied militia making targeted attacks on civilians based on ethnicity, systematically destroying towns and villages.

[9] It concluded that the pattern of abuses "suggests a deliberate strategy to deprive the civilians living in the area of any form of livelihood or material support.

[22] On 20 February 2017, the United Nations declared a famine in parts of former Unity State of South Sudan and warned that it could spread rapidly without further action.

More than 3 million people had been displaced by ongoing violence across the country, forcing families to abandon agricultural land and livestock, leaving them with few food resources to survive with.

[36] In March 2017, Canada government announced 37 million CAD in funding for UN agencies and non-governmental humanitarian organizations working to address famine in South Sudan.

In the former counties of Renk, Nyirol, Duk, Twic East and Pibor (Greater Upper Nile region) during the March–May period, Global Acute Malnutrition rates were over 20 percent, which was above WHO's 15-percent emergency threshold.

We are reaching as many people as we can, in almost every county, but it is critical to end the conflict and sustain peace to prevent an already severe food insecurity situation from deteriorating even further.

This IPC demonstrates clearly that if the people of South Sudan have peace, they will be able to improve their own resilience and food security situation.”[40] Many UN officials believed that man-made conflicts caused the high levels of widespread hunger across the country.

Since the beginning of 2018, numerous outpatient treatment programmes (OTP) and stabilization centers established by the UNICEF admitted 147,421 children who suffered from severe acute malnutrition.

As of January 2018, WFP already sent seven teams in Bilkey, Nyandit, Kurwai, Jaibor, Chuil, Buot and Ulang, providing life-saving food and nutrition assistance to around 96,633 people, including 17,370 children under the age of five.

It is providing regular emergency food distributions, clean water, safe sanitation facilities, and essential hygiene items to help keep diseases at bay.