Radio Miraya
2831: World Food Day: South Sudan Faces Growing Challenges from Climate, Conflict and Economic Instability
Today is the 16th of October and South Sudan is joining the rest of the world in commemorating the world for day under the theme right to foods for a better life and a better future. However, with more than 7.1 million people facing hunger, well, South Sudan has the second highest proportion of food insecure people globally. Well, to talk more about this day and the main challenges at South Sudan is facing regarding this issue, we're joined in with our guests in the studio. So we have Dr. Jacob Mogher, he's the Director General of Food Security Policy and Stakeholder Engagement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Mary Ellen McGortie, he's the Country Director and representative of the World Food Programme in South Sudan and we have Felix, he's the Deputy Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in South Sudan. Good morning and welcome to the programme. Good morning. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning to your business. How about there? Right. And yes, I would like to start with Dr. Mogher. Would you just start by explaining the significance of this day, the world for day and what is the theme for this year? This world for day, like any other one, is actually to celebrate or create awareness about the food situation in the country and ignite discussions of this awareness and it has been actually recognized or it has established in 1945 and today we have about 150 countries including South Sudan that celebrate this day yearly. In South Sudan in particular it has been rotational, where it is celebrated in either of the 10 states, capital, but of course we have now administrative areas, so it has been found in that this year it takes place in a range, administrative area, in a range. And among the activities that normally take place is the speeches by national and national senior staff and as well as the regional government staff which includes among the partners IFAO and the World Food Program and during the day we also see exhibitions of the barriers which have been produced in a particular state or in this case now, administrative area and of course this would include traditional dances. Right, so all these things will be happening in Roig? That would be happening this time in Roig, this year. Right, so what is the theme? Have we adopted a national theme or are you going to the global theme? Yeah, this has been done but unfortunately I have been out of the ministry for a week and I have not been actually being aware of the theme for this year but of course every year is followed by, I mean is actually accompanied by a theme that is to men to kind of bring the people's minds as to what is really supposed to be achieved or put our ideas on. Thank you Dr Jacob, well the global theme is right to foods for a better life and a better future. Hopefully we do have a national theme and we will find out that, Mary, Ellen, can you just provide an overview of the food security situation in the country now? Thank you very much and good morning to all your listeners, as you said up front, South Sudan is one of the highest burdens of food insecurity, over 7.1 million people in a situation where they can't guarantee a square meal on the table every single day for themselves and their families. This has mainly driven a bit by the conflict but also by climate change. Also this season we are dealing with the floods, many parts of the country have been inundated with water, over 800,000 people impacted by the floods and then of course tragically the war in Sudan is also having its impact in Sudan with the humanitarian fallout, over 800,000 people have fled the war into South Sudan, it's also had an economic impact. So the situation of food insecurity and malnutrition is extremely high in South Sudan, second highest in the world. At WFP we are committed to the theme of this year that everyone has a right to food for a better life and a better future, the right to save a nutritious food and access to food to be able to have a productive life and a quality of life for themselves and their families. And so working on the humanitarian side to deal with those immediate needs right across the country but also looking at programs that help communities and empower communities to be able to produce their own food and to untap the incredible potential that is here in South Sudan, both on the agriculture side, on the livestock side, on the fishery side and then also on programs like school meals because as we talk about the future, the children of South Sudan or the future of South Sudan, so being able to get children into school, giving them school meals so that they are able to layer it on a full stomach and connecting those school meals to local agriculture production so that it has a double benefit for the communities and the family. Right. So what are some of those immediate needs? Some of the immediate needs at the moment, you know, it's been able to get people to get food on the table, so even if you look at the people that are coming in from Sudan, they haven't eaten in days, they're malnourished, so trying to provide food at rank and cash at rank in nutritious food. But then we have also many parts, many parts in South Sudan that suffer from food insecurity as well, whether it's due to the climate change or conflict. So at the moment we have a big program ongoing trying to help those people that have lost everything because of the floods, hoping to reach over 1 million people over the next couple of months. Right. And you mentioned helping people sustain themselves and how have you been able to do that? Yeah, we have a big program that works and particularly with our colleagues at FAO and with the ministry around helping communities to produce their own food, but also connecting them to markets, working on feeder roads, WFPs, you know, we distribute quite a bit of food in South Sudan, so we try to buy local for local, so South Sudan, for South Sudan, so you know, helping on market aggregation centers, helping on post-harvest losses and then also connecting the school meals program, local projects for the school meals coming from local farmers. Right. Well, thank you so much. Mary Ellen. Felix South Sudan has the highest proportion for food insecure people globally, as you heard earlier. And Mary Ellen spoke about some of the main factors and maybe would you like to expound more on that, what are some of the main factors contributing to this crisis? Thank you so much. There are a number of factors which are contributing to this crisis. Among the drivers are both at national level and that regional or global level. We have got factors which Mary has just alluded to, which are flooding, climate change. We have got issues to do with displacement, refugees, IDPs, also displacement caused by flooding. We have got issues related to cross-pounder livestock and crop diseases. We have got the issues around the economic crisis because when you look at food security to understand how these factors are driving food security in the country, food security is defined around four pillars. The first pillar being the physical availability of food in a location at all times. Then the second one being the economic or access to that food because food might be available in October, but people who are food insecure because of the economic and financial capacity of those families to access the food. Then thirdly, you have got the issue around the utilization of food. You might have food, but if you are not able to cook it properly so that it can be used by the body, you are food insecure. So it's not just about lack of food and also the last one being the stability because if you can have food today and tomorrow you don't have food, you are not food secure. Food secure. That's why we have to look at all these components and really look at the factors driving food security in the country. Thank you, Felix. Dr. Mogam, what initiatives is South Sudan government currently undertaking to address food insecurity and how effective are these measures? The government and indeed through the Minister of Agriculture, there are efforts to increase production and productivity of some of the main crops which form the basis of food security in the country, like the maize, sorghum, sesame, and name them, but all in all this being said, but the circumstances under which we can attain the high production and increase in productivity really is behind because this requires the support to the subsistence farmers. The subsistence farmers at the basis of food production, as long as we don't really provide them the necessary inputs and so forth, we would still be having this issue of food insecurity and increasingly as we see, it is now going up and this requires really as members of the food security sector to come together so as to address how do we actually support the farmers because in South Sudan, the majority of food production is the producer of subsistence farmers. We don't have the commercial farmers at the country at the moment. So what kind of support do they need? This need really is from the basis, the provision of seeds, provision of tools and above all, we have to establish the extension services which has formerly been there in the late 70s and early, I mean, through the 80s, South Sudan has been feeding itself without food and being exported actually in these large quantities from the neighboring countries. So we really have to think and go back, how are we able to reach that level and in that case, we really have to address now the need to support the farmers by providing the inputs that they require and especially the extension services that they need at this moment to enable them to increase the production and improve productivity. Right, thank you, Dr. Mogav. Mary, which populations or which parts of the country are most bearing the brand in with regards to food insecurity and what are some of those challenges they are facing? Yeah, I mean, what you see is sort of around the east, the northeast, it's probably, you know, we have seen great improvements in sort of the western part of the country, you know, we did have a, I mean, for me, it was a great privilege last year to be able to close out two of our operations in Toreet in Yambio because we had actually, you know, with the stability and the peace and people being able to go back to their land, they didn't need big emergency food distributions from WFP. Right. But we still have challenges in large parts of the country. A lot of it is, you know, livelihoods, having access to livelihoods, it's the impact of climate change. Having the infrastructure as well, you know, we often say hunger begins with a road ends, you know, so really looking at how we can connect communities across livelihoods, across markets. So that's really where we have at the moment, you know, those, you know, the jungles, the pebores, the impact of the crisis in Sudan as well, that's bringing quite a huge number of people into rank and up along that northern borders of South Sudan. But then the flooding as well, we've seen some of the flooding too, you know, very high in some of those parts of the country, you know, the food insecurity then is also sadly accompanied by very high malnutrition rates as well, which impact young children and pregnant women. Right. So those errors would be jungly. Yeah, the jungly, the pebore, unity, up, up, up are now, you know, where there's still quite a bit of investment needed in livelihoods and infrastructure. Right. All right. Thank you so much. And would you like to jump in when it comes to that area of the country and some of the challenges and what is being done to support those people? Yeah, basically, a lot is being done. When you look at food security issues like Marius already said, there's the issue of providing the food aid, but also especially the government with other partners, they're working a lot in terms of supporting in terms of social or social networks. There's also a work which is ongoing to provide support to those who are being affected by the different climate change issues to be able to produce at what level. But now that's where it comes with the extension Dr. Mogao's job was talking. Right. And we'll come back with the way how you're partnering with the government very shortly. Because we will be going and listening to the news headlining at exactly 8.30. Good morning. You're listening to the Miraya breakfast show. And my name is Irenla. So well, we are speaking about World Food Day today. And yes, the theme this year is right to food for a better life and a better future. And it should be remembered or marked that more than 7.1 million people are facing hunger in South Sudan. And this is by far the second highest portion, a proportion of food insecure people globally. And that's a huge number and a lot needs to be done. Well, in just seconds, we'll be listening to the news headlines and we'll come back to find out more about how FAO are partnering with the government to ensure that people need the much needed help. Good morning. Stay tuned. Oh, yes. Welcome back. It's just 29 minutes at the top of the hour and we continue with the nation's speed conversations. Well, we'll get back from the news headlines there. Now, Felix, how is the FAO working together in partnership with the government and also other agencies to mitigate hunger? Yeah, we're working closely with mostly about four line ministry in the country, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Water and Irrigation Development. So we have got a number of actions in terms of sustainable agriculture, area policies, strategies and programs, which are working together. For example, one of the area where government is leading is the development of the Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan, the strategic food reserve, which they have started initiating. But we are also working with the unsustainable agriculture development in various ways in the areas of animal health and more production, seed production, seed systems, agriculture extension. We are also working hand in hand with other ministries, like the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the areas of food safety, because when you talk of food security, food safety also plays a very important role. Right. Yeah, food standards are very important. We are also working with other line ministries, like the Ministry of Gender, Women, because when you talk of agriculture and development in the country, women are contributing about 70% to 75% of the labor in the agriculture sector. Yeah, so if we don't work with those together with all these line ministry in addressing the food security situation in the country. In terms of access to land, so policies related to land access, women rise to land and other production assets is very critical to address food security in the country. Right, and earlier we learned from Dr. Mogga about rowing, hosting this year's event. So how are communities in rowing expected to benefit from hosting this event? Rwing is, in fact, one of the productive areas in South Sudan when it comes to agriculture. But because of the infrastructure issues, which Marius attempts, it limits the potential of a particular area. But the communities in the awareness, which is going to be raised by this day in that location, in terms of showing the communities, showing what they can do, because during the celebration, we also have show where farmers, cattle keep us and others bring their produce for people to see what they are doing. But also to highlight their constraints in terms of addressing sustainable agriculture development. So that policymakers who would be attending this can also hear from the communities themselves. Right. Well, gentlemen, thank you. And, ladies, thank you so much for making our time to speak to us today. I would like to hear your final remarks on what you believe are the most critical steps that need to be taken to ensure food security in South Sudan in both short and long time. I'll start with you, Dr. Mogga. Yeah. Thank you so much. Once again, really, as I said earlier, the critical point is how do we support the subsistence farmers and the country level, having been given the necessary inputs and so forth, by the extensive services, we wouldn't then be able to read the amendment or to get some increase in production and surplus. The next thing that line is how do we get market for them, because once they produce and supplies is available, if that surplus cannot get to the market in order for them to get the income they require, then they would feel disappointed that they have been encouraging and now that it's no way for what they produce as a surplus. This requires what Maria has said in terms of provision of roads and more so even some kind of security because without that security, very often fields are left, people are displaced and so forth. And that also increases the level of the food insecurity in the country. So we require yesterday that we really begin from the bottom line, then we come up and in that way we could be able to see and realize increase in food production and eventually food security and nutrition in the country. Right. Thank you, Doctor. Yes, Phoenix. I think number one is the police around the policies, so that the right environment for production is announced, participation of the private sector, reduction in checkpoints, for example, along the Nair River that will promote a lot of activity. We also have research and development in terms of breeds of livestock, in terms of seeds and the like. We also have the issue of infrastructure, which has been mentioned, but also important and along the infrastructure of roads is the issue of electricity. And we are happy that there are plans to bring the grid from Uganda to south that will promote a lot of production and, of course, ensuring that the farmers have access to the inputs by having a network of agro dealers, a network of vet clinics around the country who can provide the services and the goods required by our livestock and crop producers. Right. Thank you. Yes, Mary Ellen. Thank you, Erin. Yeah. I mean, it's about a whole systems approach, you know, food systems, but also not only about availability but access to food. So really protecting the most vulnerable and those that don't have access to make sure that they also have access to food. It's about creating the enabling of environment, you know, Felix mentioned, you know, the rural women that are currently the heaviest burden yesterday was international day of the rural women as well. So I mean, they're a part constituent of food security in South Sudan. This country has incredible potential. It's amazing. I mean, I was on board the other week and you go to the fish market. It's just phenomenal. And unlocking that in that potential with an enabling environment, you know, strong agri-business, you know, the investment climate. And then also, you know, in parallel, you know, having those programs that provide a social protection and a safety net and also, of course, you know, for me, what I'm very passionate about is the school meetings and getting children into school and dealing with the hungry because that's the future also. So I see that. That's right. Mary Ellen, Felix and Dr. Mugga. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Oh, yes. And you're listening to the Miraya breakfast show. Remember, this is where the nation's biggest conversations begin every morning. Dr. Jacob Mugga is the director general of the food security policy and stakeholder engagement, the ministry of agriculture and food security. Mary Ellen is the country director and representative of the World Food Programme in Southstan. And Felix is the deputy representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.