There is a high infestation of crop pests and disease which is attributed to the limited access to agrochemicals. High weed infestation increases the work load of farmers. The rainfall patterns have changed and rains are now unreliable, coming as late as July, instead of April/ May. This has effects on the hunger period, increasing food insecurity. All focus group discussions with farmers revealed that famers lack adequate tools and seeds for growing enough food to take them throughout the year. In addition, there was also lack of improved seeds. It was noted that the seed distributed by development agencies sometimes fails to germinate. There is therefore need to test seed before it is supplied to farmers. During the dry period, cattle from the pastoral communities moves through the crop farming areas in search of grass and water, destroying crops. This is a source of conflict between the crop farmers and the pastoralists. There is need to develop a mechanism for solving these conflicts.
The soil fertility is declining, leading to reduced yields per unit area. However, there is currently a GOSS ban on fertilizer use. They need manure from the zero grazing units in which the oxen for ploughing can be stored.
Areas cultivated are small, with estimated average area cultivated at 0.5 acres per household. This means that farmers cannot produce adequate food for the whole year, making their households more vulnerable. In rural areas of South Sudan land is plentiful and there is no lack of land at all. Through more effort, farmers will be able to get access to more land and they need to be taught to farm bigger areas effectively.
There is a shortage of hired labor in rural communities, as most of the people in the village have gone to town. For example in Masna, the focus group revealed that most youth have gone to Wau town where they are employed by Chinese company which pays them better. This has implications on the amount of land that can be opened up for cultivation by each household.
There is only one rainy season and the staples produced are inadequate, including groundnuts, sorghum and maize, to last the whole year. There is very limited maize produced in the state. However, it was learnt that there are short term varieties of groundnuts and sorghum that can take people through the hunger gap. And the maize that is planted does not produce optimally due to bad soil preparation prior to planting.
There is also need for post harvest handling training, as some of the sorghum goes to waste because of poor storage facilities There is frequent flooding in the state, which affects crop yields
Nutrition
People in the state lack basic foods for proper nutrition. Poor diet, consisting mostly of sorghum and okra, one meal per day, supplemented by meat and wild leaves. Gathering 39