A combination of bad weather, pests and a deteriorating relationship with the North has led to an economic crisis that is challenging South Sudan's food security.
Ongoing clashes with Khartoum over the countries' contested border area have halted the import of cheap food goods from the North, leaving Juba to rely on high-cost goods imported from southern neighbour Uganda.
Another full-scale war between the two rival Sudans would make an already tough situation much worse.
Al Jazeera's Peter Greste reports from Juba.