The Governor of Yei River State David Lokonga Moses says his state has lost investment and development opportunities due to the presence of insecurity in the state.
Among these he said was a proposal by the American Government through its development agency USAID to allocate 3.5 million for coffee investment.
He said that earlier this year the state government has approved 1.8 million South Sudanese pounds to invest on coffee production to boast its economy with a support from a leading international coffee marketing organisation-TECNOSERVE.
The approved budget by the state was meant to raise new seedlings in all the counties of the state which are affected by ongoing insecurity.
Yei River state is only state in South Sudan well-known for quality coffee production evidence by the export of over 50 metric tonnes of coffee to the internal markets in Geneva and Switzerland through Uganda entry point.
However, Lokonga said the donated tractors by the president to cultivate more than 100,000 acres of agricultural farm will not be successful this year.
“The prevailing insecurity in the state has hampered the use of these tractors and other plans for this sector. In a related development, the USAID has earmarked a grant of 3.5 million US dollars through the National Government to promote coffee growing in Yei River state. Only that we have been interrupted by this insecurity. All this efforts will strengthen the economy of the state. We are really by far being eyed by the international community to be given support for development.”
Notice of Correction: An earlier version of this story emphasized that USAID had given millions for coffee development in Yei River State. This was based on a remark by Governor Lokonga taken out of context. He was in fact stressing that insecurity in the state has resulted in a loss of investment and development opportunities.