Rice farmers in Aweil are looking to improve farming technology and equipment to increase production, as the World Food Programme (WFP) sees potential for agricultural cooperation with China to help communities make better use of land suitable for rice cultivation.
Santino Akech, a 45-year-old farmer in Aweil, said his community had begun cultivating rice after repeated flooding affected sorghum grown in lowland areas.
“When the floods came, it affected some farms in the lowland areas,” he said. “It affected sorghum, but the rice succeeded.”
He said farmers harvested 42 bags of rice weighing 90 kilograms each from four feddans last year. At the time of the interview, he still had 13 bags in storage.
Akech said the income from rice had helped farmers pay school fees and medical expenses. Working in groups had also allowed them to expand cultivation and save money through village savings and loan associations.
However, he said farmers need more support to increase production, including access to ox-ploughs to prepare land on time.
“We are not demanding tractors,” he said, explaining that government tractors were not always available when farmers needed them.
He said farmers could contribute towards the cost of ox-ploughs because some already owned bulls.
The challenges facing Akech and other farmers are among the issues that WFP says must be addressed if rice production is to expand in Northern Bahr el Ghazal and other parts of South Sudan.
Haileselassie Berhanu, head of the WFP Aweil Field Office, said the UN agency has been working with communities to explore how flood-prone land could be used for rice cultivation instead of allowing excess water to destroy crops.
He said communities had experienced repeated flooding over several years, damaging sorghum, a major crop in the area. WFP and farmers began experimenting with rice on a small scale before gradually expanding cultivation.
Berhanu said more than 2,100 farmers are participating in rice cultivation this year, with approximately 1,000 hectares planted across the wider initiative.
He said the program still needed agricultural machinery, improved seeds, training and equipment for harvesting, drying, threshing and polishing rice.
“The rice, the type of rice, if we need technical expertise, is very important,” Berhanu said, referring to the potential for support from China.
He said technical assistance from countries with long experience in rice cultivation could help South Sudanese farmers improve production and make better use of available land.
Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan Ma Qiang, who visited agricultural activities in Aweil, said the area had favorable natural conditions for rice production and that the initiative had potential to contribute to local food production.
The envoy said China had previously donated agricultural machinery to local communities and that there was room for further cooperation in agricultural technology.
“There is great potential,” Amb. Ma said, adding that cooperation with the national and local governments and international partners could help improve food production.
The ambassador also cautioned that natural resources, including water, could become a problem when not properly managed, highlighting the need for better management of flooding.
Meanwhile, WFP Country Representative Muntina Chimuka said rice cultivation could contribute to food security by helping communities grow their own crops and diversify their food sources.
She said the rice crop at the site they visited appeared promising, despite dry conditions that had affected other agricultural areas. However, she said expanding such initiatives would depend on available resources and stronger government copoeration.
WFP relies on voluntary contributions to fund its operations, Chimuka said, adding that climate change and unpredictable weather were making agricultural production increasingly difficult.
She urged state and national authorities to work with communities to identify suitable locations and rice varieties for cultivation.
Deng Deng Bol, caretaker minister of agriculture, environment and forestry in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, said farmers needed equipment and training to improve production. He also identified storage facilities as an important requirement for farmers seeking to preserve their harvests.
He said the state had fertile land suitable for agriculture, but farmers continued to face challenges from changing weather patterns. Flooding affected crops in the previous year, while drought has affected rice, sorghum and other crops this year.
For farmers such as Akech, the immediate concern is getting the equipment needed to cultivate more land and harvest crops on time. He said rice had shown promise in the lowlands, where flooding had repeatedly damaged other crops.
While WFP sees potential for agricultural cooperation with China, the expansion of rice farming will depend on access to appropriate technology, training, resources, and effective water management.
Aweil communities hope that better support will allow them to turn flood-prone land into a more reliable source of food and income.
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