Integrated food security phase classification: Key IPC findings September 2017-March 2018

South Sudan entered the harvest season in September 2017 with 6 million people (56% of the total population) estimated to be severely food insecure , out of which 40,000 are in Humanitarian Catastrophe and 2 million are facing Emergency (IPC Phase 4) food insecurity. Post-harvest gains in October-December 2017 are expected to reduce the number of severely food insecure people to 4.8 million (45% of the total population), with 25,000 in Humanitarian Catastrophe. However, an anticipated earlier than normal start of the lean season will result in an estimated 5.1 million (48% of the total population) people being classified as severely food insecure in January-March 2018, with 20,000 in Humanitarian Catastrophe.