South Sudan ceasefire must hold to avert famine - U.N.

A South Sudanese child, who is displaced by fighting in Malakal and suffering from malnutrition, lies down on a bed in a medical facility in a feeding centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Kodok, Fashoda county May 28, 2014. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan can only avoid famine if a shaky ceasefire holds and people displaced by more than five months of fighting are able to return home in the next few weeks to plant crops before the rains, a senior U.N. official said.

Donors pledged more than $600 million (358.1 million pounds) in May to help avert a crisis which aid agencies said could be the biggest since the 1984 Ethiopian famine, with 3.5 million people already suffering from acute or emergency-level food shortages, including a million unable to meet basic needs, the United Nations says.