<Tr> <Th> Period </Th> <Td> February 2017--June 2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Observations </Th> <Td> War, drought </Td> </Tr> <P> Since the early months of 2017, parts of South Sudan have been experiencing a famine following several years of instability in the country's food supply caused by war and drought . The famine, largely focused in the northern part of the country, has been estimated to affect almost five million people (about 50% of the South Sudanese population), with food shortages expected to spread by the middle of the year . </P> <P> South Sudan suffered the 1998 Sudan famine before its independence, but no famine had been formally declared anywhere in the world during the six years prior to 2017 . There are currently warnings of imminent famine in Yemen, Somalia, and the northeastern part of Nigeria, but the formal declaration requires that the following criteria be met: </P>

Why is there a famine in south sudan