Significance of the Issue The present brief is devoted to the famine that was declared in South Sudan on February 20 of this year (Ombuor 2017, para 1). It is an unprecedented event for South Sudan with roughly 42% of the country’s population (4.9 million people) being “severely food insecure” (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] 2017, p. 1). The term presupposes the presence of phases 3, 4, or 5 of acute food insecurity, which corresponds to the cases of crisis (“high or above usual acute malnutrition”), emergency (“very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality”), and catastrophe (starvation, high mortality) (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification n.d., para. 10-12). The region of Greater Unity experiences the most significant strain with some of its counties experiencing phase 5 classification in January 2017 (IPC 2017, p. 2). However, the issue of malnutrition has become acute for the entire nation (Famine Early Warning Systems Network [FEWS] 2017). The situation is expected to deteriorate without an appropriate response (IPC 2017). The latter should not be limited to humanitarian aid: the primary causes of the issue, which include the ongoing conflict in the region, need to be investigated and addressed before more than a half of the population of the country is affected by the famine (Clooney & Prendergast 2017; FEWS 2017). Analysis The current crisis, while unprecedented, was predicted by the WHO (2016, p. 1) that reported growing food insecurity in the region, which coincided with unfavourably dry weather conditions. Indeed, the recent drought, which affected certain areas of Africa, contributed to the problem, resulting in agricultural difficulties and increases in food prices (IPC 2017, p. 4; World Health Organization [WHO] 2016). However, the famine proves to be a result of a more complex combination of issues (BBC News Team 2017). One of the primary causes of the famine are the armed conflicts of the ongoing civil war, which started in 2013 (Ombuor 2017; Quinn 2017). It is apparent that war can have multiple negative consequences, and one of them is disruptions in the economy caused by destruction, looting, and violence (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR] 2016; WFP 2017). In particular, IPC (2017) shows that armed conflicts in South Sudan have a tendency to disrupt agricultural activities (p. 5). It is noteworthy that the tactics of the warring parties include attacking civilians (in particular, raiding communities and depriving them of cattle, food, and money), which has greatly contributed to the famine (Clooney & Prendergast 2017, para. 3). Moreover, there are reports of humanitarian aid, including food trucks, being hijacked or blocked by both sides of the conflict (Gettleman 2017, para. 19). The aid could have prevented the drought-related food insecurity or reduce its severity, but the strategy of the warring parties prevented this outcome (Clooney & Prendergast 2017). In the end, the growing food insecurities and conflicts created a combination which set in motion various contributing factors, including a tremendous loss of lives, health crisis, hyperinflation, changes in the Terms of Trade, the lack of access to healthcare, and others (BBC News Team 2017; FEWS 2017; IPC 2017; OHCHR 2017; WFP 2017). It is noteworth