Optimism, as Women Farmers Showcase Positive Impact of Livelihood Projects in South Sudan

Shortly after Natalina Atim started farming in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state, she lost a third of her harvest from the one-hectare maize field she had planted. The field was in flowering stage when her farm was invaded by desert locusts in 2021, the year South Sudan experienced its most severe plague of locusts in modern history.

The swarming of locusts, with their legendary effects on crops, resulted in the widespread ruin of farms belonging to local communities such as Atim’s in Magwi County. The destruction of food crops and grazing land throughout the country greatly affected the livelihoods and food security status of many hundreds of vulnerable people, the majority of whom were women.

Despite the devastation she had witnessed, Atim, 48, a single mother and a grandmother, did not give up subsistence farming as she struggled to feed her family of nine. “When the locusts invaded our farm, we lost almost everything as we had not yet harvested, along with [losing] those crops we had just planted and were beginning to sprout, including maize and sorghum,” she recounted.

“This hit us so hard because we had just returned from the refugee camp in Uganda a few months before and were barely getting by as we tried to resettle.”

Since then, Atim and her Lacas Pelony farming group have received training in pest surveillance and good agronomy practices. They have also received seeds for maize, cassava, and cowpeas to help them embark on their journey to economic recovery. Atim put the training skills and seeds to use, cultivating six hectares on which she planted maize and cassava for three seasons. “From the three acres section of the farm, where I planted cassava, I have harvested 7 tonnes,” she said. “And I have harvested 2.2 tonnes of maize from the other three acres.”

Seed money

To help South Sudan recover from the locust outbreak, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) has provided a total of $143 million in financing for two projects, the Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project (RALP) and Emergency Locust Response Project (ELRP). The projects have been implemented by the Government of South Sudan through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Together, they seek to address challenges encountered by vulnerable groups, including women farmers and youth, by supplying productive assets and offering training in agriculture and other economic activities that sit in close proximity to communities, households, and individuals.

Both projects emphasize the involvement of women. They have helped women raise 403,000 seedlings and led to the repair of access roads and other community infrastructure, including four pesticide stores, one central laboratory, eight farmers’ multipurpose centres and eight stores in selected areas in South Sudan.

Amer Bech Anyuat is chairperson of the RALP-supported Matjot Multipurpose Cooperative for Seed Production for Market in Makuach Payam, Bor County, Jonglei State. The 30-member group has 17 women. They received leadership training, training in basic agricultural skills, farming tools and seeds. The area of land Anyuat has under cultivation has since changed from 25 to 35 feddans, with a dramatic increase in her yields of sorghum from 250 bags to 300 bags.

The women’s group farmers who joined RALP also received other income-generating opportunities from the Village Savings and Loans Association initiative to help them rebuild their livelihoods, provide food for their families, and boost their household income. “The agriculture people came to us here, they taught us, they gave us seeds, and now we are okay. Now you can see I am harvesting sorghum in my garden,” said Debora Peter, another farmer.

“As a group of women farmers, we have three hectares of sorghum that is now being harvested for food, and I will sell some to earn money for meeting the basic needs of my family. I can now say that life is slowly improving for my household. I urge our funders to continue with the support to reach more households, so that they too can witness the transformation I have experienced.”

The RALP project also addressed nutritional gaps by supporting groups of women vegetable farmers. For years, most households in Torit County's Iluhum residential area had purchased vegetables for home consumption, a habit that deprived them of the nutritional diversity of the many types of vegetables not available in local markets, due both to their limited supply and to prices unaffordable for many families.

The Muhaba women farmers’ group in Torit County is being supported to cultivate a variety of vegetables for individual household consumption and sales.

Mama Tina joined the Muhaba crop and vegetable production group in 2022 and learned about kitchen gardening. This has enabled her to plant vegetables around her compound with seeds for amaranths, cowpeas, and jute melon that she received from the project. It also supplied her with tools, such as hoes, shovels, and watering cans.

“It was very difficult for us to find vegetables in the markets because there were only a few sellers, and a few varieties, like sukuma wiki and jute melons, were sold very expensively. Many families avoided the markets due to the high prices and instead opted for wild vegetables,” she said. “Our children were malnourished and pregnant women were at risk of sicknesses.”

“With the farming skills, seeds, and the nutritional awareness we received, now we produce all our vegetables and sell excess to the market. Our families’ nutritional statuses have improved, children are healthy, and we don’t go to the hospital as frequently as we used to.”