South Sudanese caught in hunger crisis

WARRAP, Sudan (Reuters) - Adeem Thony is a widow with six children and no way to feed them, one of millions suffering from hunger in the war-ravaged area of southern Sudan which could become Africa's newest nation seven months from now.

"My husband died three years ago during the cattle raids," she said in her native Dinka language as her bony limbed nine-month old baby sucked listlessly at her breast, unsatisfied as Thony herself had not eaten yet that day.

"My children are now suffering terribly and we rely on the aid agencies for our food," she said, dirty clothes hanging from her thin frame and her skin scored with traditional tribal markings.

Thony and her family are victims of a major humanitarian crisis in south Sudan, a semi-autonomous region where half of the population of 8 million is short of food.

A 2005 peace deal ended a north-south civil war, which was Africa's longest conflict and claimed some 2 million lives. But a heavily armed population and security vacuum outside urban centres has escalated tribal clashes fueled by ethnic rivalries, a lack of water and tit-for-tat cattle raids.

The deadly violence has hindered aid operations to the south, one of the least developed areas in the world. Instead of post-war development and hope, southern Sudanese are stuck in a hopeless cycle of violence and hunger.

On a visit to the region, U.N. Under-Secretary General John Holmes said malnutrition levels in parts of the south were well above emergency levels, a situation which will complicate a sensitive referendum on independence scheduled for January 2011.

"There is a problem of funding," Holmes told reporters during a four-day trip to Sudan. "We are asking for $530 million for south Sudan this year and we are just over 20 percent funded so clearly there is a serious problem there."

"If we have the resources in time we can prevent what is a crisis turning into a disaster and that's what we need to do," he said.

CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT

During decades of war, southerners were almost entirely dependent on international aid.

With the post-peace government presiding over a yearly budget of $1.3 billion to $2 billion, which is derived largely from oil revenues, donor nations had hoped money pouring into the south could help authorities build the country rather than just feed the people.

But in remote Warrap, a town near the north-south border which has only a scattering of permanent buildings, no paved roads and no electricity, Holmes was met with requests from the local population for more food, more water sources, and even a mobile network.

These are all services the southern government should be able to deliver. But led by a guerrilla movement struggling to transform into a political movement fit to lead a newly created nation, it lacks the capacity to do so.

Corruption, mismanagement and a massive salary commitment to keep a rebel army employed and trained has diverted much needed development money.

Holmes said aid dependency was an old problem in south Sudan and emphasized the fertile water-rich land in the south was ripe for agriculture.

"We need to do more to encourage development particularly agriculture...so people can be self sufficient and don't need food aid," Holmes said. "But we've got a long way to go."

(Editing by Noah Barkin)