Government prioritizes investment in agriculture to create jobs

By Benjamin Takpiny

The government said it is prioritizing investment in agriculture in order to boost employment opportunities for youth.

This was revealed on Monday by the Minister of Agriculture and Food security Josephine Lagu who said that South Sudan is endowed with immense agricultural potential that needs to be exploited.

“What has been deterring us from realizing this potential was primarily the issue of insecurity, but now the country is stabilizing. So we are confident that this country can produce its own food to feed itself and also to export,” Lagu said during the signing ceremony for funding of the agriculture and health sectors by the World Bank and the European Union in Juba.

The World Bank, European Union, and other donors announced 400 million U.S. dollars to fund South Sudan’s health transformation project and an additional 30 million dollars for the resilient agriculture and livelihood project (RALP).

Lagu said that agriculture has potential to diversify the economy and hence reduce over dependence on oil revenues to finance huge part of the fiscal budget.

 “We can use agriculture to create and generate revenue for our country and for our people,” she said.

Lagu said that they plan to invest in the agricultural sector in order to achieve food security within the next two or three years.

 She thanked the World Bank and the donor partners for the trust and support provided to the government over the years.

Lagu said that they aim to see the country able to feed it’s own people within the next few years from now.