The 1000 tractors brought into South Sudan by President Salva Kiir to address the country’s food shortages will not be used this planting season, an agriculture ministry official told the public.
Dr Erneo Blasio from the National Agriculture Ministry said the tractors will not be used this year due to lack of equipment and other technical challenges.
“I am asking all farmers to know that these tractors will not be ready for this season,” Dr Blasio told Eye Radio on Wednesday.
The officer further accused politicians of being responsible for the disappearance of 400 tractors which were brought into the country last year by the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr Blasio said the politicians have yet to pay back the ministry for the tractors.
In an interview with Radio Tamazuj yesterday, presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny claimed that the 1000 tractors had already been handed over by Kiir to the national and state agriculture ministries as well as the two administrative areas of Pibor and Abyei.
Kiir announced the import of the 1000 tractors in a speech in March. He said the tractors were brought in to help make South Sudan self-sufficient in growing food amid a downturn in the country’s economy caused by the Civil War.
Some 4.6 million South Sudanese – or about 40% of the country’s population – will face crisis levels of food insecurity this year due to conflict.
It remains unclear how much money was paid for the 1000 tractors brought in this year, and who was ultimately responsible for paying for the equipment. The Ministry of Defense said at the unveiling of the tractors in April that it contributed funds to the project.
At that time, Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juk referred to previous failed attempts by South Sudan’s government to use tractors to promote agriculture.
“I hope that our failure of not making good use of over 600 tractors delivered by our government in the past will be a valuable lesson to guide us in the good management of these 1000 tractors. If you never make a mistake then you never learn,” Kuol said.
Related:
Salva Kiir ‘donates’ 1000 tractors (17 Apr.)