This month, as the international media began noticing the famine in Bahr el Ghazal, the SPLA leader, Colonel John Garang, was touring in Eastern Equatoria. Bordering Kenya and Uganda, the province is also beset by war, drought and cattle-raiding, and bears the signs of approaching famine. Livestock values have plummeted, as compared to grain; long dependence on wild 'survival foods' has drained people's strength for cultivation. Forced sales of animals that can no longer be fed have brought accusations of herds carrying disease across borders. 'We expect a very difficult year', said an NGO field director, adding that the government's flight restrictions, changing monthly, made planning 'a nightmare'.
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