Rice farming transforms livelihoods in Twic County of Warrap State

By Benjamin Takpiny

Rice farming is transforming communities in Twic County of Warrap State into becoming more resilient and self-sufficient.

Many areas across South Sudan are vulnerable to flooding and flood events are increasing in severity and number.

Its imperative farmers can cultivate through climate shocks making rice a water loving crop, ideal for flood prone areas like Mangok village in Twic County. 

 Farmers are now becoming less worried about the arrival of the rainy season as they are learning more about how to prepare their farms and put floodwaters to good use.

World food Programme introduced rice farming in Twic County early in 2022 as part of its Food for Assets project, in partnership with NRC and funding from The Foreign Commonwealth, Development Office (FCDO).

The scheme is part WFP’s Asset Creation and Livelihoods (ACL) programme supporting communities to adapt their agricultural livelihoods to recurrent floods and produce rice by controlling flood waters.

Through the initiative, communities have turned flooding into an opportunity to diversify their agricultural livelihoods with a water loving crop. Since the first year of the rice initiative there has been steady increase in the number of feddan and number of yields for example 105 feddan in 2022 resulted into yield of 215 bags of 50kgs. In 2023, 400 feddan was planted and the yield is expected to be over 800 bags of 50kgs.

“Rice is something new to this area. I had to learn how to grow it so I could adapt to the future and I know this is a way to survive the floods,” Alek Ngong,45, and a mother of 5 children told the Dawn in exclusive interview last week in Mangok Amuol Rice Farm in Twic County of Warrap State.

“We started with only 3 feddan but now we have 31 feddan, we have many feddans here, it help us a lot, I am appreciating the donor for transforming farming in our area,” she adds.

Ngong says that their children are eating good food and have access to schools and medication through what they are getting from the farm.

She has trained 14 people after acquiring rice farming skills from WFP.

“I have trained 14 people, who have not got opportunity from WFP, I am now ready to train others,” Ngong says.

She adds that by training more people in her community they will be able to eradicate hunger.

Ngong has sold about 10 sacks of rice and the surplus is for feeding at home.

She has also enrolled her children in school with the profits earned from harvested rice.

 “I am very grateful to WFP’s support, touching the rice grains after the harvest gave me the same feeling of happiness when I first touched my sorghum and groundnut harvests. I feel proud and I now have hope for the future and I want this project to be extended to other areas such that every community in Twic learns how to cultivate rice,” Ngong says.

James Majok Deng, the administrator of farmers cultivating rice in Mangok Amuol Rice Farm, says they have plans to expand the farm in the near future to increase rice production.

 He urged all people in Twic County to embrace rice farming because it flood resistant crop. 

Stephen Moseray, WFP Head of Field Office in Kuajok , says they are supporting farmers to cultivate around 500 feddans in Twic County.

He adds the idea is to use the floods which become the problem to people as an opportunity to improve food security in the state.

Moseray says they introduced rice in flood affected areas as part of their intervention to the communities who are affected by climatic shocks in the country.

He says WFP is trying to guarantee the future of the people to produce their own food.

Peter Madut, director general in the Warrap state ministry of agriculture, environment and forestry, says this year’s food production is better than the previous years because crops have not been affected by the floods.

“Our partnership with WFP on the activities related to resilience is going on well, communities are really benefiting from those activities, WFP has been known for humanitarian activities but its moving to resilience activities,” he says.

 Madut adds crops such as rice, cassava and sweet potatoes introduced by WFP are water resistant and can grow even during dry spells.

He notes about 25,000 farmers are being supported by WFP in various counties of Warrap state.

Madut says these are farmers are being supported with finance, technical training and other resilience activities.

 “We are not leaving behind those who are not reached by the project, we are engaging other partners such that they reach more people and cover the whole state with food resilience activities,” he says.