Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec touring a seed fair organized by FAO in Yambio

Campaign highlights the need for farmers to increase their activities this main planting season

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security today launched the agriculture campaign in Yambio, alongside the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), highlighting the importance of the planting season in improving the food security situation in South Sudan.

While in Yambio, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, toured the YAFA cooperative site, which has been helping local farmers in seed production and storage with support from FAO and WFP. He later went on to open an FAO seed fair, where participants in WFP’s cash-for-assets scheme – who receive cash in return for work to either construct or rehabilitate community assets – are provided with vouchers to exchange for crop seeds from selected sellers.

As the country braces for its worst lean season since the onset of the crisis in 2013, it is essential to boost local crop production. The latest food security situation report estimates that some 7.1 million people will face acute food insecurity at the peak of the hunger season - between May and July this year - in the absence of all forms of humanitarian assistance.  

The campaign aims to encourage farmers to return to their fields for the main planting season, and if possible, increase the area of land under cultivation to avoid another round of worsening food insecurity next year. The campaign was launched in Yambio today and will also be replicated in the former ten states. It involves the use of media and other channels at national and state levels to increase awareness of the critical nature of the coming main planting season, and introduce new measures to stimulate farmers to increase their farming activities.

The launch ceremony included speeches from the Minister, WFP Deputy Representative, Simon Cammelbeeck, and FAO Deputy Representative, Pierre Vauthier, followed by a meeting with people receiving FAO and WFP assistance. Speaking at the ceremony, Hon. Nyikwec noted the close relationship between FAO, WFP and the Ministry and reiterated his appreciation of the continued support from the agencies in re-establishing livelihoods for the people of South Sudan.

“FAO and WFP’s continuous efforts to assist vulnerable South Sudanese families, who depend entirely on agriculture for their food security and livelihood is greatly appreciated,” he said.

FAO emphasized the need to continue helping farmers to be able to produce their own food.

“It is critical that we continue helping vulnerable farmers, fisher folk and herders to build stronger, more resilient livelihoods and become more self-sufficient in food production. Agricultural livelihoods play a critical role in ensuring national food security and economic growth and contributing to future peace and stability,” said Pierre Vauthier, the FAO Deputy Country Representative.

"The food security situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate,” said WFP Deputy Representative Simon Cammelbeeck. “It is critical for everyone from the farmers to the private sector to take advantage of the upcoming main planting season if we are to meet the food needs of the country and ultimately defeat hunger.”

Once a region producing 17 percent of the country’s cereal production, Greater Equatoria has been affected by years of conflict and subsequent population displacements, resulting in a reduction in agricultural production. FAO’s emergency livelihood response programme in 2017 supported 860 000 vulnerable households with vital agricultural inputs to ensure farmers could plant. In 2018, FAO will continue to support households through seed fairs and focus on enhancing resilience through increasing its emphasis on production and sustainable agriculture. Despite the huge challenges faced, through its seed fairs in Western Equatoria and Yambio, FAO is successfully supporting local seed production and is supplementing Government efforts by introducing training in post-harvest practices that reduce losses, and supporting farmers groups.

With complementing activities of linking seeds and cash-for-assets, FAO and WFP are providing peoples with a more sustainable livelihood opportunity to produce their own food. In 2017, WFP and partners supported 3 000 households with longer-term work to improve resilience and food security in Western Equatoria through the cash-for-assets activities which helped rehabilitate or create community assets such as wells and roads to bolster communities’ resilience to future food shocks. WFP plans to expand its local procurement facility and expand it to include a Home-Grown School Feeding pilot that is planned to start in Yambio. Under the activity, food used for school feeding is sourced from local farmers