South Sudan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have launched a five-year project to improve food security by boosting the value addition and trade development in the country.
Hannington Sebaduka, FAO project Manager, said the Agriculture Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development (AMVAT) project is a US $14.1million venture by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to be implemented by South Sudan with the FAO.
Sebaduka said the project was designed to focus on key commodities such as sorghum, maize, groundnuts, and sesame, adding that the project will benefit 20,000 smallholder farmers from five counties in the country.
Sudan’s economy
“In a period of November 2021 up to April and May 2022, we are looking at targeting 6,000 farmers within 20 cooperatives. The people that have come here are the representations of 20 cooperatives,” said Sebaduka.
He said in the whole of South Sudan, the FAO will establish urban, modern markets in Central Equatoria whereby the commodities from these counties of Juba, Terekeka can share the center. And the project will provide post-harvest facilities, including value addition facilities.
Sudan’s economy is ailing from the devaluation of the Sudanese pound (SDG), high inflation and soaring food and non-food prices reflected in the high inflation rate recorded during the early months of 2021. This has curtailed household purchasing power. Latest data shows that an estimated 7.3 million people in Sudan (16% of the population analyzed) are in high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above).
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