We should produce our own food!

Very many people in the town of Yei in Central Equatoria were seen going to the Crop Training Center (CTC), yesterday. Tearing through that thick human traffic was like breaking a hole through a concrete wall. On the 4th of December, 2009, people stormed the CTC. It looked like a flea market where everyone saves up throughout the year to do their entire year’s shopping in one day. The event ended on Saturday, 5th December.

As I stood at one of the streets in Yei, I saw many people carrying many agricultural produces. They carried cassava, vegetables, bananas, fish, sugar canes and many other agricultural products. They came and passed me one after the other. This made me wonder why we import food from Uganda and beyond. There is a great potential of producing equally the same quality and quantity of food locally.

So the Yei County Agriculture Department in conjunction with Africa Action Help (AAH) organized for an Agriculture exhibition. The two bodies helped farmers to bring and show their produces at the centre. Farmers came as far as Kejo-Keji, Morobo and Lainya. The exhibitors included poultry, animal husbandry, crop and fish farmers.

Hundreds of people came from all around Yei town to the place. Most of them bought many things that they took with them back home. And still many people are still buying stuff. The farmers are going to continue selling their things until they are over. I talked to Ajonye, one of the people at the exhibition. She told me:

“I had to make all efforts to come here because it is during such moments when one can buy anything he/she wants at a relatively ‘good’ price. So I just could not dare miss this chance.”

Farmers are selling their products. But above all, this event is organized in order to benefit the local farmers. Most farmers feel this moment is refreshing because they are sharing knowledge and experience.

I talked to AAH's Agriculture Extension Officer, Mr. Dara, and this is what he had to say: ‘You know whenever we bring our farmers in one place like this, they tend to learn from one another. It is through this kind of occasion that most of them pick up encouragement to keep going.’

Even though farmers are facing difficulties caused by unreliable rains, persistence may yield them a smile on their faces. Food and income security is increasing in the county. Most places in Southern Sudan are well blessed with fertile soil. They also enjoy two rainy seasons a year – meaning there are two planting seasons per year. But many people are kind of relaxed and even lazy, even though the government has tried to encourage people to embark on agriculture.

But because many people have taken farming for granted, disasters have always been part and parcel of human life in the country. Many people are still going without food for long hours. In fact, most families around Yei town only get one meal a day. One may argue, that is why there is an increase in illnesses among the people.

If people take the advice of the government, then we will have enough food in Yei and Sudan as a whole in the near future. And Sudan will then be considered a ‘life giving country.’