UACD Initiative in Agriculture
Support Small Scale Farmers in South Sudan
Agriculture (farming and livestock) is the main principal economic back born of the South Sudanese people constituting to about 78% of the population being employed in the sector. However, after emerging out from the 21 years of civil war in 2005, and quickly descending to yet another violent armed conflict in 2013 which resulted into continuing insecurity in most parts of the country, farmers continue to have very low- and poor-quality yields due to lack of modern agronomic practices to improve and increase their outputs/produce, fear of insecurity especially in the rural areas which make farmers to abandon agriculture all together.
The Challenge farmers face
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Farmers still use traditional farming tools and practices that are not friendly to the natural environment, hence leading to environmental degradation.
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Farmers also continue to practice subsistence agriculture to meet basic households need for their daily food, with minimal surplus for cash to purchase basic items like salt, soap, kerosene, etc.
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There are also lack of linkages to bigger market spaces. Thus, Agri-business is not developed to an attractive level to the young/youth population due to lack of skills and resources.
HOW UACD RESPONDED TO THE NEEDS OF THE SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN KAJO KEJI SOUTH SUDAN
Before UACD was formally registered in Oct. 2019, the founding members through the support of ‘The Anna & Family Foundation Initiative’, we supported smallholder farmers’ groups and some potential individual farmers who were practicing farming as an enterprise since 2013.
Before the 2016 -17 massive displacement of the population in Kajo-Keji County, UACD founding members under "The Anna & Family Foundation Initiative" and in conjunction with the Kajo-Keji County Agriculture Department had developed a modal approach and tools to address the community agriculture interventions by introducing high quality and drought resistance seeds, better agronomic practices and access to markets.
The supported smallholder farmers were able to minimize the challenges they faced and production of Maize grains, sorghum, cassava, groundnuts and vegetables (cabbages, green papers, spinach carrots, onions, etc.) and fruits, mainly watermelons where beneficiaries realized very good profits from the sale of their produce.
WHAT WE DO.
Build the capacities of farming communities and targeted beneficiaries/ farmers with modern agronomic practices and to increase productivity and yields Promote agri-business among young population in the community. Promote the production of resilient food crops (seeds multiplication) Support and build the capacity of young population/ youths in income generating activities. Support establishment and strengthening of community infrastructure including food processing and market linkages Leverage financial and technical resource/ support from donor/ charity organizations, faith-based organizations, and well-wishes to revitalize destroyed agricultural activities and livelihoods including livestock. Many young people in rural areas of South Sudan view agriculture as the hardest option and prefer instead to focus on moving away to cities in search of a better life. UACD in this regard is dedicated to stepping up efforts to make sure that young people are an integral part of the transformation of rural areas so that we can achieve our 'Sustainable Development Goals." We encourage young people to build their interest in innovation and adoption of new technologies and approaches, that can boost the use of more sustainable agriculture practices to improve productivity. We provide small farming communities with training and tools to create resilient livelihoods by adopting methods to tackle changes in climate, increase food security, increased income and benefit from more nutritious diets to improve their health and wellbeing.
Your donation of any kind today will help us achieve our goal of improving the livelihood of the most vulnerable communities in South Sudan and end hunger through sustainable agriculture and livestock farming.