South Sudan has set an ambitious target of increasing cereal production from 1 million metric tons in 2023 to 1.1 million metric tons in 2024, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“One of the important thing to realize is that South Sudan is not a homogeneous society, in fact there is a feeling that South Sudanese are fed by food aid, no, last year in 2023 South Sudan produced about 1 million metric tons of food, the amount of food that came was about 400,000 metric tons, so we cannot as FAO bundle all South Sudanese in one box in fact South Sudanese saved themselves from famine,” said Meshack Malo, the Country Representative of FAO in South Sudan told journalists on Wednesday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
He disclosed that some of the cereals produced in bulk by the farmers include sorghum, maize, millet, rice, and wheat.
In 2022, UN agencies issued a notice of likely famine in South Sudan.
“For the first time in 2023, South Sudan has hit 1 million metric tons and that’s why we feel and we are convinced as FAO that there is a group of South Sudanese including teachers and journalists that now need to produce for the market,” Malo said.
He noted that 1 million metric tons was produced from 4 percent of the land, adding that if the youth could join farming they would increase the land under use to about 8 or 10 percent.
“If the young people can come to the land, South Sudan will exit from food aid, and that’s why we are looking at all the segments, we are looking at the fisher men and some farmers,” Malo said.
He revealed that last year, 30 percent of the seeds came from South Sudan.
