South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday launched an agriculture digital solutions platform designed for farming efficiency.
The digital package is composed of an e-registry and Voucher Management System, an e-extension and Weather Advisory Mobile Platform as well as a Seed Management system.
The system is designed to create a harmonized database for farmers and help in the disbursement of farm inputs. The e-extension and weather advisory platform will provide forecasts to farmers and be complemented by the Seed Management System which leverages seed supply chains.
Speaking during the launch of the platform in Juba, Josephine Joseph Lagu, the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, appreciated the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the financial support and FAO for continuing to offer their technical expertise to build and strengthen the capacity the government in the field of Agriculture.
“The platforms we are launching today play a key role in adding efficiency in our agriculture for us to realize our long-held dream of food self-sufficiency. We therefore need to fully leverage the potential of digital technologies to keep our promise in the delivery of goals set in our strategic frameworks and in particular the Comprehensive Agriculture Master Plan (CAMP),” she said. “I feel humbled to speak to you today about this important milestone, a clear game changer in our quest to make agriculture more efficient in our efforts to achieve food and nutrition security in our country. The launch of these Agricultural Digital Platforms will ensure that South Sudan’s agriculture is not left behind from the e-agriculture revolution.”
“Indeed, my country should be part of the global efforts to transform the agrifood systems to make them more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable and therefore, digitalization and innovation are therefore key accelerators to this transformation” Lagu added.
She said the 2023 Integrated Food Security Phase overall picture painted that the food security situation is still dire in South Sudan, with an estimated 7.1 million South Sudanese expected to face severe hunger during 2024’s lean season so the digital platforms should help better the food security situation in the country.
The digital agriculture platform has been developed by three high-profile digital organizations in East Africa, with support from the Government of South Sudan in partnership with the Africa Development Bank. The digital ecosystem provides a harmonized database of farmers, livestock keepers, seed producers, and other stakeholders to facilitate managing beneficiaries enrolled in various interventions.
The platforms will capture beneficiary biodata, demographic data, fingerprints, images, production data, inputs demand, size of fields or fields, livestock, Agro dealers’ data, and any other important information.
The data will be captured through various approaches including a mobile-based application especially in remote areas while offline and later synced to a database once the tablet is connected to the internet or web application.
For his part, Meshack Malo, the FAO Country Representative, said the future of farming lies in e-agriculture and technological innovations.
“The digital ecosystem we are launching today is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure South Sudan is not left behind in the digitalization process,” Malo said.
He revealed that the digital platforms are expected to begin operating in full swing immediately and will benefit over 500,000 farmers across six states in South Sudan.