CRI听力:UN: Famine May Spread in South Sudan

The United Nation's Children's Fund is warning more than a million children in South Sudan under the age of five will need treatment for severe malnutrition this year.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

"We're seeing more and more children who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which means not only that many of them could die: perhaps 50 thousand over the course of this year throughout South Sudan."

One area of concern in the country is Upper Nile State, where the UN has been calling on the World Food Program for immediate help.

World Food Program executive director Ertharin Cousin says getting food into the region isn't the only issue they'll have to deal with.

"Food alone won't do it. We must provide the food, but we must also ensure that they live in conditions that have access to clean water and sanitary living spaces."

Months of internal conflict have forced thousands of farmers in South Sudan to abandon their crops, leading to a dramatic downturn in food production in the country.