FAO, Government of South Sudan sign Country Programming Framework
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) signed today the Country Programming Framework (CPF, which sets out government priority areas to guide humanitarian and development interventions.
The CPF was prepared following consultation and agreement with the GRSS, resource partners, United Nations (UN) agencies and civil society. It focuses on three priority areas: sustainable increase in agricultural production and productivity, increase in agriculture-based economic growth and incomes, and increased resilience of livelihoods to threats and crisis.
Key government counterparts include the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Ministry of Health.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, said the CPF is another good beginning for cooperation and collaboration between FAO and the Government of South Sudan.
“As peace returns to South Sudan, the priority is agriculture in order to produce enough food. We cannot transform the agriculture sector without the support of our development partners,” Hon. Onyoti said. “The CPF is a sign of working seriously for the interest of the people of South Sudan,” he added.
According to the 2018 Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission report, crop production in the traditional sector was estimated at 931 071 tons, representing a decrease of 2.5 percent compared with 2017 and 15 percent lower than the previous four year average, making it the lowest output since the start of the conflict in 2013. Violence has also displaced farmers in typically surplus-producing areas, leading to a drastic reduction in area planted. While insecurity has hindered trade routes and access to markets, affecting market supply, the devaluation of the South Sudanese pound has led to soaring food and non-food prices.
The goals of FAO in South Sudan during the CPF period are to enhance the resilience of vulnerable households, reduce food and nutrition insecurity, and increase household incomes.
“I uphold our satisfaction with the CPF. The support we are getting from FAO and the partners under this CPF will be reflected in our national resource envelope,” said Hon. James Janka Duku, the Minister for Livestock and Fisheries. He said the CPF is a basis for coordination of development projects among all food security partners.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 83 percent of South Sudan’s estimated population of 12.3 million lives in rural areas, depending on subsistence agriculture. In 2018, farming, animal husbandry and fishing were the primary source of livelihood for about 70 percent of the population.as. More than 50 percent of the population is affected by high level of undernourishment with pockets of chronic malnutrition.
“In addressing the needs of the people of South Sudan, the CPF provides a mechanism to work with all partners to achieve the aim of food security for all,” says Pierre Vauthier, FAOR a.i. “We in FAO are going to continue to work with the Government and people of South Sudan in every part of the country, by providing inputs, capacity building, or infrastructure essential to ending hunger,” he added.
In 2019, FAO aims to provide 800,000 farming, fishing and agro-pastoral households in severely food insecure areas with vegetable and crop seeds, agricultural hand tools and fishing equipment, as well as training to increase production and reduce post-harvest and post catch losses. One crop kit enables a family to grow enough cereals to last more than six months – which can go a long way to alleviating hunger. In support of agro-pastoralist communities that tend to be heavily dependent on livestock, FAO is carrying out vaccinations and other animal health services to prevent large-scale animal mortality.