NAIROBI — Market shelves are bare. Children are getting skinnier. Warnings of mass hunger have been issued. The question now being considered is whether it is a famine.
Health experts locked away in a hotel conference room in South Sudan’s capital are debating exactly how severe the hunger situation is in the world’s newest country and whether the hunger brought on by violence that erupted in December qualifies as a famine.
If yes, media coverage will intensify and new donations may pour in. If no, tens of thousands will face hunger and aid money will still be needed.
‘‘If it’s as bad as famine, a declaration can have a significant impact on the level of support that goes toward the crisis,’’ said Chris Hillbruner, the lead food security analyst for FEWSNET, a famine early warning system created by the US government’s aid agency USAID.
An estimated 260,000 people died in the region’s last famine, in Somalia in 2011. Ertharin Cousin, World Food Programme executive director, said he fears the world is allowing a repeat of that tragedy by not dedicating enough resources to South Sudan.