First, a quick reminder to you, my fellow citizens of beloved and great country South Sudan, to wake up from the slumber, sharpen your farming tools, and get ready because the season to burry some seeds in the ground to germinate to bring us food onto dining tables.

Yes, a time to clear, till one’s fertile land. Having a conversation a few days ago with one of the local farmers, I shared with him what I thought he should do as this farming season approaches and this is what he told me: “some of us might not farm as usual this year due to lack of farming tools and the economic hardship facing the whole country thus the prices of tools hiked making them not affordable.”

I remember very well some years back in my village, when it’s a time for land preparation, everyone gets ready with new tools; Jembes, pangas and arks for clearing their farms before it can rain. My conversation
with that local farmer helped me realized that having no tools can absolutely expel one from farming.

For sure, if there are no tools to dig the ground, there will be no farming and that obviously results to food shortage at the end of the year. It’s my humble call to our government of South Sudan under the leadership of president Kiir, particularly the national ministry of agriculture, together with other stakeholders such as the humanitarian organizations, to intervene and provide tools to local farmers to encourage them to cultivate this season.

Recently, I heard the government talking of prioritizing agriculture as better option to fix our economy and promised to boost and increase agricultural products this year across the country. We all know that, when this country invests in agriculture, it will develop faster than ever. Agriculture is a backbone of country’s economy. I want to thank the people and the government of Northern Bar el-ghazal state for providing one thousand tractors. May other states copy and paste this great work this season so that we grow enough food by the end of this year. Besides, agriculture will not just be a mean of livelihood but a breakthrough in the economic huddle toward the desired economic prosperity.

The government must double it efforts to develop this sector so that the population of this country depends on its own produce. So, I urge the institutions responsible for agriculture to give necessary tools to farmers before the time of clearing farms. I am very aware that our government currently facing financial constraints but wooing investors to invest in the agriculture sector would be paramount.

This idea may introduce us toward large-scale farming, which could help the country to eradicate the poverty and bring about prosperity.

Our country currently depends on the imported food items from the neighboring countries, which is why things become very expensive and people cannot afford them. Even a sack of maize flour due to economic crisis, there are families that cannot afford it. We need to come together to fight all these challenges through farming in all states.

In Jonglei state, particularly, there are so many challenges hindering effective small-scale farming, as insecurity remains the main obstacle keeping everyone indoors. And for such a reason, I am calling upon the government of Jonglei state to provide security to small-scale farmers this coming season. By doing this, the State will absolutely have sufficient food some months to come.

FAO believes this very point that am making. It once said this: ‘’Expanding the potential of small-scale producers for sustainable agri food systems transformation requires policies, institutions, legislation and investments that maximize the synergies of small-scale production and minimize trade-offs among the social, economic and environmental dimensions of agri-food systems.’’

When I walked around the state capital of Jonglei, I often see so many security personnel just loitering, waiting for their salaries. This always generates a question like, why doesn’t government deploy these forces around the farms to protect the local famers from the petrators? By doing this, it will be also a chance for them to farm alongside the farmers, and too, rovide their families with enough food. if the government borrows this crucial point and deployed around the loitering soldiers to protect farmers, agriculture will definitely cure our dying economy.

It’s my appeal to dear citizens to stop waiting for humanitarians to provides us with food. Depending on humanitarian aid and oil money has destroyed the culture of independence and has likewise made us so
lazy or unproductive.

For the humanitarian organizations, I suggest they should stop providing free food but give skills on how to produce food in both small-scale and large scale; train small and large-scale farmers; there are modern farming methods that our traditional farmers do not yet know. As far as this farming season, I would urge the humanitarian agencies top actors and skills as a means to empower small-scale farmers in Jonglei state in particular.

Of course, they need to collaboratively work with the government to protect farmers. Reiteratively, I would like to put myself on the same with FOA’S special Advisor in the Office of the Chief Scientist of FAO, Mona Chaya who once said: “There needs to be support for creation and exchange of knowledge and innovation for sustainable small-scale production in order to have a meaningful impact.”

This is all our farmers need, security and empowerment, only that and nothing more. When it’s done, plenteous food can just be produced here within South Sudan and will help attract investors.

I can attest to you that sometimes, back in the village, our people used to depend on agriculture products. Abundant food was produced of which the surplus was taken to the market for exchange with cows. A certain number of sacks of grain were negotiated to be exchanged for a cow. People worked hard and many became wealthy at that time.

Look at today’s people. What is happening with them? Just compare current situation to the previous one; believe me, there is a huge difference! Let me take break to tell you the major problem associated with importing agricultural goods from other countries. And by the way, you don’t know that some of these foods we import have genetically modified organism (GMOs) in them.

As a result, some contaminated foodstuffs are being consumed. Let’s do away with foreign foods and practice agriculture to eat what our soil produces. Remember, by the time we were depending on our produced, we were healthy, wealthy and giants. Now, compare it with this desperate life where everyone raises complaints of ulcers, liver diseases, hemorrhoids, malaria, and typhoid every now and then. All these diseases are being imported from foreign countries in the foods.

What might be the causes of these, sometimes I wonder? Remember many countries in the world are using fertilizers to enable their lands produce more products for export. Our bodies are allergic to such foods because we aren’t used to them. This is why, I guess, South Sudanese lifespan reduced up to fifty-five years. In comparison, our grandfather’s lifespan was up to one hundred and twenty years or more.

Sometimes, it surprises me when I read on import goods and find some writings like, ‘’FOR EXPORT ONLY’’ What does it means? To me, it means that such food items with such writings are being imported and not consumable in their countries of origin. It’s our obligation to protect ourselves from all these set up. If we take courage and till our blessed and fertile land and say “we don’t even need a man-made fertilizer”, it will much better and healthier.

Moreover, I am raising my voice and calling on dear citizens to pick up Jembes and pangas to clear their farms this forth coming season. Nevertheless, another idea is here. It’s only in South Sudan where
prisoners detained and kept in prisons until they are released as government struggles to provide them with food.

In regard to this, I would like to appeal to our government to utilize their (the prisoners’) labor force in practicing agriculture. In other countries, prisoners contribute much toward the economy of the country.

For instance, we have engineers’ prisoners who are trained by the government to construct roads and bridges in a bid to make for their government.

In that case, the Inspector General of police should look into this with an eagle’s eye and do something about it. The ministry of interior can produce enough food if it accepts to set up farms in the ten States for the prisoners to practice farming.

Therefore, we can collaboratively fight hunger and food insecurity. Now is the right time. So, let’s start
fighting.