Juba, Nov 1 (IANS) The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday urgently appealed for 404 million US dollars to support its humanitarian assistance operations in South Sudan in 2025 amid warning of rising hunger.

The WFP urged donors to give early funding for the operations in South Sudan next year, so that the UN food agency may preposition food to avert ballooning operational expenses and famine beyond 2025.

Shaun Hughes, WFP's acting Country Director for South Sudan, said it can take months to turn pledged donor funds into food in the hands of hungry people in South Sudan.

"The country's limited road networks are impassable for much of the year, particularly in the east and central parts of the country where food insecurity is highest," Hughes said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The WFP's appeal follows the release of the "Hunger Hotspots" report by the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization, which warns that South Sudan is a country of highest concern where humanitarian action is essential to prevent starvation and deaths.

According to the report, acute food insecurity in South Sudan, where 56 per cent of the population already faces a crisis-level or worse hunger situation, is likely to worsen as the 2025 lean season approaches, typically starting in May.

The WFP said the causes of this deterioration are high food prices, a severe economic crisis, conflict and insecurity, cross-border movements from Sudan, and flooding, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN agency said it currently has no food supplies in South Sudan to preposition for next year's humanitarian response and needs 404 million dollars to frontload assistance.

"Failure to do so will leave WFP reliant on expensive airdrops later in the year to reach isolated communities who are facing the most severe levels of hunger and depend on humanitarian food assistance," it warned.

The WFP said funds received before the end of this year will enable it to preposition food by road in remote hunger-hit areas during the brief dry season window from December to April.

"Airdrops are always the last resort for WFP. Every dollar spent on planes is a dollar not spent on food for hungry people. But there is a simple solution: get food to communities by road before they are cut off by heavy rain and flooding," Hughes said.