4.15 MB - Food Security Clusters

South Sudan: How a new country can feed its peopleBox 6.1 - Rainfall patterns in South SudanSouth Sudan’s climate is dominated by an annual monsoon movement that enters the country from thesouth in late February – early March and progresses steadily northwards. These humid air masses pushagainst warmer and drier air of the Sahara desert, forming the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone or Inter-Tropical Front (ITCZ or ITF). By early June, rainfall usually covers the whole of South Sudan. By mid to lateAugust, rainfall reaches its northernmost extent near the deserts of northern Sudan and starts retreatingsouthwards. The northern regions of South Sudan see the last rains in mid-October and by late Decemberthere is little if any rainfall in the country.Map 6.3 – Average total seasonal rainfall in South SudanAs a result of this seasonal cycle,rainfall starts increasingly laterand ends increasingly earlier asyou go north and hence largerseasonal amounts occur in thesouthwest of the country. Inmore northern regions of SouthSudan most rainfall occursbetween July and September (seeMap 6.3) while the southernregions benefit from rainfallduring most of the year due to amore complex intra-seasonalrainfall cycle.Map 6.4 – Proportion of seasonal rainfall that falls in July to SeptemberSoutheast regions (EasternEquatoria and southeast Jonglei)have a rainfall regime moresimilar to that of Kenya andsouthern Ethiopia: a bimodaldistribution with a main peakaround April and a second peakin October separated by a drierperiod from July to September.This is reflected in the lowproportion of the total rainfallthat comes in July-September asseen in Map 6.4. These regionsare also the drier areas of thecountry.Southwest regions have a long rainy season and the July-September contribution to the seasonal total isnaturally smaller. Here there is some influence of more southerly rainfall regimes, with April usually beingthe wettest month and a period of lower rainfall in August.38