The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment and the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) on Wednesday concluded a three-day monitoring and assessment tour of over 3,000 local farmer groups in the villages Akot, Aluakluak, and Mapuordit in Rumbek East and Yirol West counties of Lakes State.
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment in Lakes State, Poth Majak Daljang, told Radio Tamazuj that the Project Steering Committee for the Global Affairs Canada funded project called ‘Supporting Livelihoods for Agropastoralists in Lakes State’ conducted a 3-day monitoring visit to project activities being implemented by CRS.
“The committee comprises representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Forestry (serving as project co-chair), the Ministry of Peacebuilding, the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare, and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). We have been visiting various project stakeholders, including community leaders, farmer producer groups, adult literacy and numeracy skills groups, savings and investment groups, gender transformative initiatives, and small business grant groups, “he said. “I also appreciate CRS, which is an implementing partner. Based on what we have observed, our beneficiaries are receiving great support. There are a lot of changes in their lives because they now own the project activities.”
Minister Majak also noted that farmers, including women and youths, have cultivated more acreage in each of the three project payams compared to previous years.
For his part, Mabeny Arop Akuot, the representative of the farmers in Mapuordit Payam in Yirol West County, said they started cultivating last year and that they have cultivated 28 feddans.
“Out of 28 feddans, we have so far harvested 65 bags of groundnuts, each weighing 100 kg. Other crops such as sorghum and okra are still on the farm, along with various local crops we have cultivated. We have worked hard with the support CRS has provided us,” he stated. “We look forward to investing in assets like oxen which will enable us to cultivate more land next season.”
CRAS Program Manager Wellington Dzvene said Global Affairs Canada funded CRS for three years (2022-2025) for this project, which supports agro-pastoralists, mainly women and youth aged between 18 – 39 years.
“The project also addresses barriers to women’s participation in agricultural and pastoral livelihoods, tackling sexual and gender-based violence, and promoting peaceful coexistence between Rumbek East and Yirol West communities,” he explained. “To date, the project has benefited over 3,500 direct households, out of 6,000, including women and persons with disabilities (PWD). This was achieved through training on gender equality, climate-smart, and gender-responsive agricultural farming, basic literacy and numeracy skills, financial education and literacy skills, group savings and gender-transformative activities, social cohesion training, and small business grants. Notably, 65 percent of the beneficiaries are women.”
Meanwhile, Martha Amer Makur who participated in a three-month adult literacy and numeracy program, lauded Global Affairs Canada for supporting women’s adult education programs.
“As women, we are always busy managing family farms and caring for our children at home,” she said ecstatically. “Before we used to see writings but we did not know what was written, but now we can read and write something on paper.”
Meanwhile, Bub Achiek, the RRC chairperson in Lakes State, said they were impressed by the good work CRS has done.
“CRS is doing an excellent job and the community is pleased with how CRS is meeting their needs to enhance food security in line with the Government of Lakes State’s policy. We have observed the progress CRS has made with the current project and people are expressing appreciation,” he said. “We also acknowledge and thank Global Affairs Canada for providing funding and encouraged CRS to expand their efforts to other areas of Lakes State.”