Emaciated children in South Sudan point to looming famine

By Carl Odera LEER South Sudan (Reuters) – A surge in the number of emaciated children arriving at a feeding centre in Leer, a muddy rebel-held town in South Sudan's oil-rich Unity State, is fuelling fears that the world's newest nation is on the brink of famine. Food stocks are running low across conflict-ravaged northern regions of the country, aid workers say, and the onset of the rainy season has dashed hopes that South Sudan's displaced subsistence farmers will plant enough crops to feed themselves. The country is the size of France but has hardly any paved roads and the United Nations and humanitarian agencies are struggling to provide aid to remote regions. Aid agencies say South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict, could be headed for the worst famine since the 1984 Ethiopian famine.