BY JACK WERKOK
South Sudan faces perennial floods that disrupt human life and destroy property and means of livelihood. Flood events are expected to increase in frequency and ferocity as climate change accelerates. The United Nations defines climate change as long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns.
Since time immemorial, South Sudan’s Sudd regions have experienced periods of flooding. Our ancestors coped by moving to higher grounds or dry-season grazing lands. Considering the new realities presented by climate change, we must adapt beyond temporary measures and develop a comprehensive national strategy to manage this menace to keep national development and progress on a predictable and controlled basis.
The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for national debate and propose ideas that can be adopted to mitigate and manage the White Nile’s annual floods. There is no one solution to fit all but there are low-hanging fruits or simple ideas to consider. The annual Nile flooding displaces thousands of our people in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile. Other regions such as Equatoria and Western Bhar el Ghazal suffer too because of the influx of displaced people with their animals, and this creates friction between farmers and cattle herders. In addition, fishing communities are affected because they cannot safely transport their catch to market.
The next question is what can be done to address this problem. First, we need to develop a comprehensive national mapping to understand historical levels of flood rise. In other words, we need to collect data. In the United States, insurance companies have data going back as far as a thousand years of floodplain data. If a customer proposes to build within a floodplain, insurance actuaries will charge you a higher premium because the risk exists that a flood could impact the property proposed to be built.
South Sudan does not have such a detailed history of collecting data going that far back. So, we need to start. We need to utilize aerial mapping to collect data and identify areas prone to flooding events. This can be funded through joint government-international partnerships. This data can then be used to educate the local population on areas to avoid growing crops or building. If a citizen decides to ignore such warnings, they are internalizing flood risks and may have to bear some costs (either in the form of giving up a few cattle) or crops to the National Insurance Program.
The data will also allow governments to plan accordingly where to build roads. As we are aware, murram roads get washed away by floods and then must be rebuilt in the same way and zones. This is akin to digging a hole and then filling it up again and repeating the process. It does not maximize resource utilization.
As the late Dr. Gilbert F White, who is credited with creating the National Flood Insurance Program, stated in the quote above, natural disasters such as floods are Acts of God, but how we humans adapt to mitigate losses is entirely human-made. We cannot control the release of excess water from Lake Victoria upstream, but we can control how we manage and benefit from such an effort.
Another consideration is changing our way of farming. In countries like Thailand and Cambodia, flood zones are used to grow rice. We must teach communities to consider switching from sorghum to millet to growing rice during flooding events. It will take time to adapt but it will be worth it. We can export surplus rice to neighboring states and even other countries. West African countries like their jollof rice and may want to import our surplus rice. It is within every South Sudan to confront the flood menace, but it requires adopting new technologies, changing cultural ways, and staying ahead of climate change.
Let’s get to work!
The writer is a South Sudanese and can be reached via jwerkok@gmail.com.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.