Drought threatens food insecurity in Western Bahr El Ghazal

By Kitab Unango
Food security situation is likely to worsen in most parts of Western Bahr El Ghazal State due to prolonged drought that has disrupted agricultural activities this year.
With a projected low agricultural out, farmers within the State worry that the situation could amount to a severe food insecurity.
Agriculture is the backbone of the country and citizens, especially out of the capital Juba rely mainly on cultivation as a source of livelihood.
Local farmers in the drought-hit counties of Jur River and Wau the areas have not received rainfalls for the past three months.
Ukul Awet, a local farmer in Udici, one of the villages in Jur River County says crops planted towards the end of April have all dried up due to lack of rainfalls.
“We have stopped cultivating because there is no rainfall. Everything in the gardens have dried and we are hungry. We do don’t have anything to eat,’’ Awet says.
Tereza Rena 36, a local farmer in Wau county who is a mother of seven says she used to store vegetables in the months of May to November, a phenomenon which has drastically changed.
‘’We have enjoyed relative peace but we do not have what to eat. We had hope that some of our crops like okra and greens would be ready by now but it is the opposite our children sleep hungry,” Rena says.
According to experts, drought is caused by climate change and anthropogenic effects including deforestation which can have devastating impacts on agricultural production in the area affected.
Simon Udom, Member of Parliament representing Jur River County at Transitional National Legislative Assembly TNLA, says the drought could lead to a catastrophic hunger in Western Bahr El Ghazal should it fail to rain in the next two months.
He appeals to humanitarian organizations operating in South Sudan to provide food to people affected and also to find a better way to avert the looming catastrophe from impacting women and children.
“People are hungry. Most of them did not cultivate last year because of insecurity. The little food they harvested last year has all got finished and they have nothing to eat. The drought has worsened the situation. Crops planted have withered because there is no rainfall. 2020 is going to be the worse year if rain fails to come in the next two months,’ Udom lamented.
In April this year, the World Food Program projected that more than half of the country population will be food insecure due to impurity, desert locust invasion and the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year heavy flood destroyed crops in some parts of South Sudan, including Bor, Pibor and parts of Upper Nile State as well as some villages in Central Equotoria State, leaving thousands of population in dire need of humanitarian assistance.