project

Women's Livelihood

opportunity

Increase food self sufficiency and provide more balanced diet  

impact

Nearly 1,000 women and families grow vegetables in garden plots

Livelihood

The project began in Majok Adim in 2012 following a meeting with women from the seven villages in the payam (district).  The women said they would like to grow vegetables during the dry season when sorghum, their staple crop had been used up and their children had very little to eat.  

As a result of that meeting, Hanti Sidra One Global Family provided funding to Pan Aweil Development Agency.  Women organized into small groups and made garden plots. Mat walls were made to surround each group of plots and protect crops from animals. Now virtually all the women and families in Majok Adim are growing vegetables.  Their families have more food and a more balanced diet.

One problem we found was that the cost of imported seeds to grow the vegetables was very high.  In 2015 we began a seed bank project.  Two farmers from Kenya with a successful seed production business were brought to South Sudan to provide training for our villagers.  They also brought seeds appropriate for use in the region.   

1.

Participation in the program expanded from about a dozen women initially to virtually all women in approximately 1,000 households in Majok Adim.  Men and children also joined in.  

2.

Garden plots are located near the Lol and Chel rivers and nearby marshy areas, where water can be used efficiently to irrigate the vegetables.  It is pumped to the plots with treadle pumps and a few hydraulic pumps.

3.

To reduce the cost of imported seeds, a seed bank program has been established to save seeds for the following season.  Now the villagers are becoming more self sufficient in their food production.

4.

The women used their own initiative to establish a tea shop in the nearby town of Marial Baai where they also sold their surplus vegetables. They then expanded to sell vegetables to some restaurants in larger towns like Aweil and Wau. 

PROJECT

Large scale farming

Aweil South farm

When South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, the Republic of Sudan responded by declaring that some two million ethnic Southerners were no longer citizens and must leave.  A mass migration took many returnees to South Sudan.  After a political dispute became a virtual civil war in South Sudan in 2013, hundreds of thousands of people fled from the fighting.  According to some estimates there are as many as two million displaced persons in South Sudan and neighboring countries.  Many moved to Greater Aweil and Wau areas in northwestern South Sudan, which was less affected by the turmoil.

Because of the conflict, most of these refugees were not able to grow their own food and the price of food skyrocketed in the markets.  Great numbers of people are close to starvation this year.

Normally, in situations like this, a massive amount of food is brought in from abroad. At the same time, South Sudan has a huge amount of under utilized land where much food could be grown.  PADA, in cooperation with the U.S. based Lost Boys of South Sudan organization, has responded to this crisis with a plan to supply locally grown food for the refugees.  It has negotiation with the Commissioner of Aweil South County to gain access to a large tract of unused land just south of Aweil town.  It has also negotiated with WFP and FAO to sell some 15 metric tonnes of sorghum, the country's staple cereal crop to them for distribution to the refugees.  This crop, as well as rice, is being grown on 32 hectares of land.  Experiments are also being done to grow crops like simsim and groundnuts.    

1.

PADA expects to produce about 30 metric tonnes of sorghum and groundnuts this year.  The seeds will be distributed to refugees through WFP and FAO primarily to provide them with a stock for planting next year.  This increases their capacity to feed themselves in the future.  There is ample land available to increase production and expand the program in Aweil South next year.

2.

This project makes a beginning of an attempt to increase self sufficiency in food production in South Sudan.  If it is replicated and expanded, it could make a big difference in reducing food aid and imports of food.

3.

The project does not take away land from peasant producers and alienate them from their own land.  The land being used was not occupied by anyone and was perceived as being unattractive because it was flooded every year from a nearby river.  In fact, the reverse has happened.  More than 200 local people were hired to work on the harvest and are being paid with sorghum seeds.  Many hundreds more came looking for work on the project.  

PROJECT

Aweil Food and Agriculture Fair

Agro Fair

The markets in Aweil and other cities and towns in South Sudan sell mostly fresh produce from neighboring countries.  Because of fluctuations in the value of the local currency and difficulties in transporting goods for many reasons, food can be prohibitively expensive for most people.

At the same time, food and other agricultural produce is being grown in the Greater Aweil area and there is a huge potential for much more to be grown.  Consumers in the towns need to be made aware of this potentially large and inexpensive alternative food supply literally in their own back yards.  

About two years ago, PADA began a program to expand this awareness.  A fair was held in Aweil to display various fruits, vegetables and other crops grown in the vicinity.  It surprised many people including local government leaders and was a big success.

1.

New markets have been created for local food producers, allowing them to increase production and generate more income for themselves.

2.

Consumers in Aweil are getting an increased supply of food that is less expensive and more likely to be available when transportation to outside areas is cut off by conflicts, flooding and other reasons. 

3.

The initiative by PADA in Aweil has caught the attention of leaders in other states and nationally.  They are now introducing food fairs in their states.