Western Pibor Rapid Assessment Pibor County, Jonglei State, South Sudan, February 2021
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Western Pibor Rapid Assessment Pibor County, Jonglei State, South Sudan, February 2021 Rationale Figure 1: Timeline of compounding shocks in western Pibor between 2011 and 20202,3 In December 2020, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s (IPC)Famine Review Committee (FRC) released 201 Large group of armed actors move through Pibor County destroying a report on Pibor County, South Sudan. It concluded that settlements, raiding cattle, displacing people to Juba and causing western Pibor (comprising of Gumuruk, Lekongole, Pibor and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to evacuate. Verteth payams) was experiencing ‘Famine Likely’ conditions, 20 — characterised by households that have an extreme lack of Majority of households (HHs) and NGOs return to Pibor County. food and/or other basic needs even after the full employment Continued cattle raiding between armed actors in Pibor of coping strategies. According to the FRC report, these critical County and neighboring counties lead to livestock loss and conditions are likely to persist until at least July 2021, regardless overall livelihood shifts, with Lekongole being most affected. of the presence of potential mitigating factors such as a de- 20 arly 207 escalation in conflict and a scaled-up humanitarian response.1 Reported poor rainfall and water shortage throughout the lowlands of Pibor County forces HHs to move more frequently with cattle between Given the continued severity of the situation, REACH, the the different grazing locations. World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster (FSLC) conducted a follow-up assessment HHs reported lower than average engagement in agriculture due to in February 2021. The assessment team visited Pibor town, and increased time at grazing areas, resulting in reduced food availability. areas outside the town including Lekongole centre, Gumuruk centre, Eviano and Kongor. The objective of the assessment HHs begin to depend heavily on wild leaves and milk as the primary was to gather further information on the drivers, assumptions source of food. and mitigating factors laid out in the FRC report, most notably indications of extreme food consumption gaps, livelihood Breakdown of social norms begins to increase, including increased cattle theft, pressure from kinship to claim collapse, exhaustion of coping capacity, critical malnutrition and debts from dowries, and intergenerational fighting. excess mortality. In 2016 and 2017, pest infestations lead low crop production in agricultural areas of Verteth Payam. Map 1: Locations Directly Assessed by REACH/FSLC ate 207 utbrea o contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. Reported as the worst single event o loss o cattle since the 20 raids. s rom umuru Payam are reported to have been most aected. April A large group of youth armed actors mobilise to raid cattle near 20 Lekongole Payam, resulting in heightened insecurity and an influx of IDPs from surrounding settlements to Lekongole Town. Oct 20 A national flooding emergency is declared by the government, with Pibor county being one of the most heavily affected areas. 9 Large-scale attack in Lekuangole and surrounding areas in February. Fighting results in an estimated 101 fatalities, 371 injuries, widespread displacement to forested areas. Several UN agencies and 14 NGOs relocate staff. Introduction Gumuruk and Lekongole are both seized and razed between June and August. Public and humanitarian infrastructure is targeted and Atypically severe flooding in both 2019 and 2020 exacerbated 20 destroyed. Fighting results in an estimated 200 fatalities, 430 injuries, the worst year of violence recorded since the 2013 civil war (see 20 widespread displacement. figure 1).4 The lean season, which typically runs from January until April,5 is a period in which access to food is usually low, as cattle Estimated 100,000 head of cattle raided throughout the year and migrate from the settlement, harvested food stocks are exhausted people are displaced from their land, resulting in minimal harvests. and seasonal rivers dry up, limiting access to fish, bush meat and A second consecutive year of atypically severe flooding results in wild foods. In 2020, the lean season was compounded by flooding, many people displacing for the third time in a year. which limited access to, and the availability of crops, livestock and 1 Western Pibor Rapid Assessment Pibor County, Jonglei State, South Sudan, February 2021 livelihood assets, while simultaneously disrupting humanitarian Table 1: Names given to recent years, according to FGD service provision for much of the population.6 In February 2020, participants from across western Pibor armed clashes broke out in Lekongole and the surrounding areas, 2021 Irkitchi Magizo – ‘The year of hunger’/ Irkitchi resulting in mass casualties, widespread displacement and the Karanonto – ‘The year of starvation’ further disruption of lifesaving humanitarian service provision, right at the height of the lean season.7 Insecurity persisted and 2020 Irkitchi Akenet Modo – ‘The year the enemies culminated in renewed clashes in Gumuruk and Lekongole between came and killed many people’ June and August. An estimated 100,000 heads of cattle were raided 2019 Irkitchi Tawano – ‘The year of the flood’ 8 throughout the year and crops were destroyed, limiting access 2011 Irkitchi Nyapurjok – ‘The year of Nuer’ (attacks in to the main sources of food in the eastern semi-arid pastoralist Kengen) livelihood zone, resulting in large-scale displacement (estimated 1983 Irkitchi Dorkowo – ‘The year many livestock died to have affected more than 60,000 people).9 Civilian infrastructure was destroyed, including boreholes (often the only source of clean Data collection took place between the 10th and 18th of February, water), schools, markets, and shelters.10 Additionally, humanitarian during which 44 FGDs were conducted with host community infrastructure, such as non-governmental organisation (NGO) members, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and market traders hospitals and warehouses were damaged. Humanitarian staff from across western Pibor. The FGD component consisted were targeted, and as a result of these obstructions, humanitarian of six thematic tools: i) food security and livelihoods/shocks, organisations delivering aid faced significant operational ii) humanitarian food assistance, iii) susceptibility to famine challenges.11 Combined with macroeconomic trends such as rising conditions, iv) water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), v) supply prices and the depreciation of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP), route mapping, and vi) accountability to affected populations these events also led to a significant increase in prices.12 After the (AAP). In addition to the FGDs, 5 health and nutrition service focal attacks, a second flood affected the area. This instance of flooding point KIs were interviewed to map facility presence and understand was the most severe in the history of greater Pibor, and resulted service disruptions. Direct informal observation exercises were in widespread shelter damage and livestock disease.13 The conducted by the assessment team in each of the physically households who had managed to plant after the attacks reportedly accessible locations. lost most of their harvest. Qualitative findings were triangulated by quantitative AoK-N This series of compounding shocks has resulted in a severe, findings. AoK-N has been designed as the most reliable and widespread and multi-sectoral deterioration in humanitarian methodologically rigorous approach to obtain payam-wide multi- conditions. In December 2020, the IPC Famine Review Committee sectoral data in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit with classified western Pibor as ‘Famine Likely’, concluding that these the noted limitations compared to a direct household assessment. ‘Famine Likely’ conditions would likely persist until July 2021 (see AoK-N findings are not representative and are based on the figure 3), even with the presence of mitigating factors such as a assumption that KIs have some knowledge about the situation of de-escalation in conflict and a scaled up humanitarian response.14 other people in their immediate surroundings. Cluster targets were The combination of shocks in western Pibor have resulted in a near distributed evenly across bomas and did not account for differences collapse in pastoralist livelihoods, led to extreme and persistent in the population distribution across bomas. food consumption gaps, exhausted coping capacity, and have likely exacerbated morbidity, malnutrition and mortality rates Within each payam, two clusters were targeted per boma, a across western Pibor. Recent, consecutive, shocks are reflected sub-payam level administrative unit that is made up of multiple in how local communities across western Pibor have named the settlements, with each cluster being defined as a settlement or years of 2019, 2020, and 2021; a practice that is typically shaped urban neighbourhood. The sampling frame consisted of these by extreme events. Indicative of the severity of the situation, focus settlements and, in the case of denser urban areas, individual group discussion (FGD) participants reported that the year 2021, neighbourhoods. Within each boma, settlements were randomly already in its second month, is referred to as “the year of starvation” sampled. Up to 10 locations were selected through simple random (see table 1). sampling for each boma and were numbered 1 to 10, allowing enumerators to move down the list until they could