Three UN agencies have warned that South Sudan is facing “unprecedented” levels of food insecurity, with almost 25 percent of the population in urgent need of food assistance.

They include the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Program.

The agencies also say at least 40,000 people are close to hunger disaster.

The Acting Representative for FAO in South Sudan, Serge Tissot, says access to food to some 200,000 people in the former Northern Bahr Al Ghazal and Warrap states have worsened.