UNICEF says efforts are needed to help thousands of children suffering from acute malnutrition in South Sudan.

The UNICEF representative to South Sudan Jonathan Veitch warned that malnutrition in South Sudan is on the verge of a nutrition crisis.  By the end of the year, nearly a quarter of 1 million children will suffer acute nutrition deficiency if more is not done now, Xinhua reported.

“Sadly, worse is yet to come. If conflict continues, and farmers miss the planting season, we will see child malnutrition on a scale never before experienced here,” Veitch said in a statement Saturday.

And if not given treatmen immediately, around 50,000 children under the age of five will die, the representative said.

More than 3.7 million people, including almost 740,000 children under five, in South Sudan were at high risk of food insecurity.