Drought and delayed rains have resulted in low crop production in Jur River County, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, this year.
The revelation was made on Monday during a visit by the state agriculture minister, Valentino Akec, County Commissioner Santino Madut Akec, and UN agencies to Alel-Thony Payam to assess crop production.
Addressing the visitors, Alel-Thony Payam Paramount Chief William Ajang Uguec urged the government to intervene as the hunger situation is alarming.
“Mr. commissioner and the state minister of agriculture, you have now seen the situation, the whole area is suffering, and you need to tell UN agencies to come and assess the situation because we are worried and at risk of hunger this year,” he said. “All the crops we planted have failed, and there is nothing good. People cultivated late due to a lack of rain, which did not come on time, as you can see our farms.”
The chief also appealed to the state agriculture minister to work to provide tractors, other agricultural implements, and seeds.
On his part, Jur River County Commissioner Manut encouraged the county’s population to embark on agriculture as the primary way to combat hunger.
“This is a time for work, and I am one of agriculturalists, as you know. In the next season, if I find people playing games and not cultivating, I will arrest and take them to prison,” he said. “I will keep visiting payams to evaluate which ones have succeeded in farming, and I will arrest paramount chiefs of the areas that are performing poorly.”
The commissioner said that together with the agriculture minister, they will engage UN agencies to support farmers with tools and seeds on time.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Akec confirmed the challenges faced by the people in Alel-Thony.
“We are currently in Alel-Thony, and the people here are facing the challenge of drought; there was no rain early, and they have experienced low crop production and other challenges. As a unity government, we have come to assess the condition they are living in,” he said. “We urge everyone to cultivate so that they can benefit from farming. We acknowledge that the type of soil they have is not conducive to or a fertile land for cultivation, but as the government, we conducted an assessment to consider possible assistance.”
“We came here with seven organizations headed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assess so that in the near future there will be distribution of agricultural materials,” Minister Akec added.