As international coordination and assessment capacity declines, lessons from investments in LNAs co-leading clusters in South Sudan, and the Kenyan government’s capacity in early warning, social protection, and related systems, offer valuable entry points.
Aid flows remain misaligned with need. In South Sudan, per capita food sector humanitarian assistance declined from $143 in 2020 to $90 in 2023, despite a 20% increase in the number of people facing acute food insecurity (AFI). Over the same period, the severity of food insecurity, measured by the Food Insecurity Gap (FIG), rose from 23% to 29%. In Kenya, the number of people facing AFI nearly tripled between 2020 and 2023, and the FIG increased from 4% to 13%. Despite this, per capita spending fluctuated. In 2024, the severity of food insecurity remained significantly higher in South Sudan (FIG of 25%) than in Kenya (FIG of 4%). Yet both received equal per capita humanitarian food assistance of $100—highlighting the continued underfunding of South Sudan’s hunger response.
These trends underscore the urgent need for aid allocations to be guided by robust, context-specific crisis analyses, underpinned by strong data systems. However, recent funding cuts have weakened key initiatives such as Famine Early Warning Systems Network and LNA-led assessments. This calls for renewed efforts to strengthen complementarity and solidarity between international agencies and LNAs. International data systems must be restructured to improve efficiency, equity, and effectiveness by fostering partnerships with LNAs—recognising and strengthening their role in ensuring that aid decisions are grounded in locally informed, evidence-based assessments. In Kenya and South Sudan, LNAs are embedded in affected communities and are leading the delivery of life-saving assistance in remote, high-risk areas often beyond the reach of international actors. They should be prioritised in funding allocations. Longer-term investments are also needed to support communities in holding governments accountable for ensuring food and nutrition security, and to advocate for needs-based, predictable donor funding.
