Hunger has caused many people in Aweil to leave their homes to Sudan in search of a better life for their families. Authorities say they want to encourage cultivation to address the situation.

Speaking on Thursday, the Aweil State Governor Ronald Ruai Deng said that he was not happy to see citizens escaping to Sudan. He sympathized with citizens whose living conditions grow from bad to worse day after day.

The governor is calling upon citizens to be patient and join their hands with the state gvernment to produce enough food. He announced that in the coming month an agriculture conference would be held in Aweil town where experts will discuss solutions in fighting hunger.

“Really we have set up agriculture as the top priority for our state because the hunger level here is high and the cost of living is very expensive for our people,” said Ronald Ruai.

“There is no solution of people moving elsewhere to the North or elsewhere. God has blessed us with very good land, very good rainfall, it's just the state government who will support our farmers so that we can be able to produce and feed ourselves locally.”

He said that chiefs, farmers, UN agencies and other stakeholders are invited to take part in the agriculture conference scheduled 8-11 March. The national minister of agriculture is expected to be the guest of honor.

“We want to come together brainstorm: How do we deal with this hunger issue? How do we deal with agriculture issue?”

Aweil State is one of 28 states created by President Salva Kiir by decree but challenged as unconstitutional by a coalition of opposition parties.

Monitors of the peace agreement have called the creation of the 28 states a “violation” of the peace agreement. Salva Kiir says the 28 states are the demand of the people.