South Sudan on path to become food self-reliant  

By Awan Achiek

The U.N Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has joined hands with the government to make South Sudan food self-reliant.

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the U.N FAO said they are advancing the agriculture, livestock and fishery sectors in order to make South Sudan self-sufficient.

“There is a strong commitment from our government partners to really make sure that we are advancing the agriculture, livestock and fishery sectors of this country to being self-reliant, to building development and to adding value to what they produce,” Bechdol told journalists during her one-day filed visit to Terekeka County on Thursday.

Bechdol, who arrived in the country on Sunday on a six-day trip, led a high-level delegation to Terekeka on Thursday to witness fishing activities and other projects supported by FAO through funding from the German and African Development Bank.

Bechdol noted that South Sudan has the potential to feed itself and become major exporters of fish and other agricultural products in the region.

She said the country has natural resources such as the land, water, and livestock herds; when utilized, the country can become self-sufficient.

“It’s time for the people of South Sudan to be able to not only feed themselves, but to be able to add important markets here in the region and maybe even eventually around the world for the really important products that are grown here,” she said.

Onyeti Adigo Nyikech, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries said plans are underway to commercialize livestock, and fisheries sectors in a bid to boost productivity to generate revenue to stabilize the economy.

“This is all the transformation of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. Transformation of livestock and transformation of fisheries. Because we want to commercialize livestock, and we want to commercialize fisheries,” Adigo said.

“So that is sufficient, then we can now export outside in order to rescue the present situation where we are suffering economically,” he said.