Fight famine with farming in South Sudan

Worsening floods in South Sudan are changing how we are approaching the coming season for fighting famine with farming.  October is usually the month we distribute seeds to the 1,000 farming households we currently work with.  However heavy rains, coupled with flood water released from Lake Victoria in Uganda, has severely impacted the region where we work. 

Entire villages are under water.  Thousands of people have had to abandon their homes and move to higher ground.  For many, this means it won’t be a growing season as usual. 

Alaska Health Project South Sudan has assessed 250 households who can continue to plant within their small compounds.  That’s great news.  These farmers should be able to plant in October and begin harvests near the end of 2024. 

For a larger number of farmers, we will have to innovate.  More precisely, use the methods many people around the world already use in flood prone areas.  One of the approaches is floating gardens. 

Floating gardens are essentially raised garden beds made on top of native plants that already float in the marshland of South Sudan.   These gardens can produce almost all the vegetables local farmers currently grow.  Our agriculture team is familiar with how to do it.  Now we will begin the training.

We also intend on looking beyond the current region where we work.  Flood refugees are seeking higher ground.  We will visit these areas and when appropriate provide seeds, tools and training.  It’s so important that our fight to prevent famine continues without delay.   Your gifts for this project will help us.  Your giving has already provided fresh fruits and vegetables for thousands of people.  Despite the floods we see a successful harvest on the horizon.  Thank you for your support.

Links:

• Learn more about our work.

Each spring we send teams into the many bomas (towns) of our region in South Sudan.  We want to see firsthand the results of the spring planting.   We currently work with 953 farming households.  It requires a lot of effort to travel—mostly by canoe—to visit the villages and meet with the farmers.

This spring 2024 harvest has been a great success.  The small gardens have produced a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  The food is helping to nourish their children as well as being sold in the market.  Take onions for example.  The harvest results were fantastic.  Many dozens of farmers were successful with large harvests—more than they could eat.  The extra onions (and other vegetables) are sold in the markets.

With money from the onion sales the farmers can send their children to school!  They can purchase other food items.  They use their success to fight famine in their communities.

It is exciting to see.  The program has grown from around 100 farming households to nearly 1,000 in just the last five years.  The only real limit to growth is funding.    Your support of this project has measurable results and is successfully fighting famine.

We have a vision that within the next decade we can end this project because famine is a thing of the past.  But not today.  So, please consider helping us continue to support the farmers of Fangak County, South Sudan.  We are making a difference with your help.  Thank you.

Links:

• http://www.ahpss.org