Food insecurity worsens as floods wash away farms in Ruweng

By Benjamin Takpiny

Several farmers in the oil-rich Ruweng Administrative Area are counting huge harvest losses following the washing away of crops by recent heavy floods, leaving the population increasing at risk of severe hunger in the coming months.

The floods have not only destroyed farms but also washed away roads that provide access to markets in the affected states in South Sudan, which is currently experiencing the worst floods since independence in 2011.

Zubeida Zaka, a Sudanese national and the Acting Chairman of Ajuong thok refugee camp is among the affected farmers who are deeply upset with the situation.

  She told The Dawn last week, that she has lost all the crops she had planted for harvest.

 “This year we have cultivated well but God also brought too much rain and flooding, the water has destroyed our farms and we are going to get nothing,” said Zaka.

Zaka noted that some of the most flooded areas include AJoungthok and Pamir refugee farms which are a lifeline for refugees who fled conflict in neighboring Sudan over the years.

The refugees are now banking on the government and humanitarian agencies to provide them with food rations to survive the looming hunger. Zaka has also asked the authorities in Ruweng Administrative Area, to provide them with more land to cultivate food, which in turn helps to mitigate food insecurity in the area.

Salih Hassan, another affected farmer in Ruweng Administrative Area said he is increasingly worried on how to feed his 16 children after the floods washed away part of his sorghum and millet produce in his farm.

“I am a father of 16 children and I depend on my farm for feeding and schooling them, but now it’s destroyed by floods,” said Hassan.

He called on the government and humanitarian agencies organizations to provide immediate support to mitigate the floods.

 “I used to cultivate to get some money to solve my own problems, and without cultivation life will be difficult for me,” said Hassan.

Hassan has relied for nearly 21 years on farming to earn money to provide for his family, adding that some of the money has helped four of his children to complete secondary school.

Tiob De Monyluak De Diran, Chief Administrator of Greater Ruweng Administrative Area, said that this year’s floods have destroyed farms in all counties in Ruweng Administrative Area.

He said that the compiled data portraying the damage caused by floods seems not to have been acted upon by the concerned authorities in the country.

“Floods have affected food production in a number of counties within the Ruweng Administrative Area, but unfortunately all the data collected, compiled and submitted seems not to have reached or have been received by the respective competent authorities in the country, and as a result Ruweng Administrative Area is now not being mentioned anywhere as an affected area in the country in 2024,” said Monyluak.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jacob Maiju Korok, the Deputy Minister of Information, Communication, Technology and Postal services announced recently the declaration of floods as a national disaster by the Council of Ministers at a meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir.

This decision offers hope for the affected population as government has set aside a humanitarian response budget to support it’s response in the affected areas.

Korok said that the floods have displaced thousands of people in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Warrap, and Northern Bhar El Ghazal and Abyei Administrative Area since July this year.

 “We mean actually that by declaring a national disaster, we can mobilize some resources from the donors to support the government to respond to the flood affected populations,” he disclosed.

At least more than 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes due to heavy flooding, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

OCHA revealed that the flooding has affected 42 counties including Abyei Administrative Area, adding that about half of the affected population is located in Jonglei and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states.