Farmers in South Sudan’s Kajo-Keji County of Central Equatoria State are demanding the government and the agriculture ministry to prioritize improved security and technical support for farmers to boost the level of food production this year.
Several returnees and IDP farmers said, although the county was paralyzed by insecurity over the last several years, it is time to focus on food crop production to fight food insecurity.
Samuel Duku a farmer in Kajo-Keji County said, he managed to cultivate three acres of land with a variety of food crops such as cassava, sorghum, and groundnuts last year. He says he plans to improve and increase crop production through mechanized farming.
“We are faced with lots of challenges and one of it is the poor roads and insecurity and we are appealing for handheld tools for ox-plowing, farm tractors and also the government should improve security and restore peace so that we embark on farming activities in this year 2021,” he added.
Julius Leju another farmer in the area said that despite the many challenges last year, most farmers deep in the villages harvested good crop yields. He urges the government to ensure total peace and stability for sustainable farming.
“During the rainy season, we cultivated and harvested crops such as sorghum, maize, and groundnuts. Currently, we are in the riversides and swampy areas embarking on vegetable crop production, and as farmers what we want is peace and stability,” Leju said.
Wani William, a returnee farmer said he is happy to have returned home from a refugee camp in 2019 and was able to cultivate enough food for his family last year.
“Currently I am harvesting cassava, groundnuts, and maize, and once the rain starts I want to increase my farming activities by cultivating six acres of land and plant enough cassava, maize and rice. My message to the government is to implement the peace agreement, stabilize security so that our farm produce can be sold in the Juba markets so that we also earn enough income,” he said.
For his part, Manley Ben, the director-general for Agriculture in Central Equatoria State encouraged farmers in the state to strategically plan and embark on farming activities to mitigate food insecurity during the year.
Ben said the government is working hard with its Non-Governmental Organisations as partners to provide seeds and farm tools to increase crop production in the state.
“The security part is not in our hands and this can be handled by the security organs and where the security is relatively stable, let farmers continue with farming activities because for now, some markets are functioning and roads are opening in the rural areas. We can do our best to address some challenges concerning seeds and tools affecting the farmers,” Ben added.
The greater Yei region including places like Lainya, Morobo, and Kajo-Keji Counties are known for their conducive farming weather and fertile soil suitable for agriculture.