Part of the World Bank delegation that visited Bori cattle camp, located about 14-kilometres North of Juba in the Central Equatoria region of South Sudan where they had an opportunity to see first-hand, life at the camp.

A visit to Bori cattle camp, located about 14-kilometres North of Juba in the Central Equatoria region of South Sudan, gave a World Bank delegation led by their Country Manager for South Sudan, Charles Undeland, FAO and government officials, an opportunity to see first-hand, life at the camp.

Boasting of a herd of over one thousand cattle and a small number of goats and sheep, Bori cattle camp is part of a bigger community of cattle camps in the area with larger numbers of livestock. The delegation interacted with the agro-pastoralist families stationed at the camp, listening to their stories to gain insight into their aspirations and challenges.

The chief at the camp, Stephen Wani, highlighted that cattle were an inseparable part of their lives.

“Cattle are our life, our lives here would be meaningless without them. We use them for milk, marriage, sacrifices when we do our traditional ceremonies and here and there, we sell some to pay school fees for our children.

 We also sell when our crops harvest is poor but in good crop production seasons we use crop sales to buy small ruminants,” said Wanni.

Selling cattle is not a decision taken lightly. Wanni, when asked if he would sell one of his cattle to acquire vaccinations and prevent diseases.

 “No, l would not immediately sale. Instead, l will wait for  organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and Government for support and only sell when they are not forthcoming,” he confidently said seemingly unaware of the irony in his response.

FAO, which has set an ambitious target of vaccinating 10 million cattle a year, works with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, state ministries and various partners to support cattle camps scattered across the country to improve animal health in South Sudan. A healthy animal herd is a prerequisite for increasing milk production. FAO is also working closely with other partners to promote the One Health approach in cattle camps.

In addition  Community Based Animal Health Workers are being trained on administering vaccines while encouraging pastoralists to view their livestock as assets and embrace a commercial approach to livestock ownership.

 World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan, Charles Undeland underscored the importance of  what he called maximum utilization of these beautiful assets.

 “The question is how we can improve the quality of livelihood for these cattle herders and the maximization of utilization of these beautiful assets to generate income and revenue. The cattle must also provide for the livelihoods while enabling them to work together to realise the economic potential of the cows and the milk they produce. How we are going to do that is much more important.

“FAO is a very good partner, and they have very good and clear ideas of what they are doing here to support communities in South Sudan, we welcome the partnership,” he said.

The World Bank and FAO enjoy a long-standing partnership which has improved food security in marginalized communities in the country. Currently FAO is implementing two programmes, Resilience Agricultural Livelihood Programme (RALP) and Emergency Livelihood Project (ELRP) on behalf of the government of South Sudan with support from the World Bank. The two programmes are targeted at building sustainable livelihoods among South Sudan communities by moving away from emergency to resiliency.

 The visit came as part of a fact-finding mission expected to inform the basis of a new project design to further improve the lives of these farmers and start the slow steps towards commercialization of the livestock sector in the country.

 Speaking at the same occasion, FAO South Sudan Deputy Representative, Felix Dzvurumi thanked the World Bank team for their continued faith in FAO under the current partnership with the South Sudanese Government.

 Turning to the visit, Dzvurumi added,

“We are always happy to visit the communities of cattle keepers. As FAO, we will continue to work towards supporting the development of more healthy animal systems through the training and vaccination programmes we have rolled out over the years.

 “We are also looking at ensuring that we make cattle rearing beneficial to communities, leading to better lives. The benefits include the well-being of families and communities. We are grateful to our partners such as the World Bank and the Government of South Sudan for their continued support,” reiterated Dzvurumi.

For more information, contact:

Chakanyuka Bosha,

Communications Specialist,

FAO South Sudan,

Email - [email protected],

Tel: +211 922 002 251