Since gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan has faced numerous challenges due to community-based conflicts, persistent flooding, and macroeconomic issues. These factors have severely impacted vulnerable farming households, leading to lower food production and food insecurity.
To address this, the World Bank Group has allocated $50.7 million to a Labor-Intensive Public Works (LIPW) Project, part of the Emergency Locust Response Project in South Sudan. The initiative, managed by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), targets the Central and Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal states. Its goal is to enhance resilience among beneficiaries by providing $40.50 monthly for community project participation.
Sam Bakuli, a 47-year-old father of four from Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria, benefited from this project. Participating in road repairs and school rehabilitation, Sam earned nearly $243 monthly, which he invested in goats. Over time, this investment provided his family with nutrition and income. "I took part in the rehabilitation of our local school road for six months, and the profit is what you can see now," Sam stated.
Labor-intensive public work aims to offer cash in the short term and promote food production in the medium term. It also contributes to economic recovery by restoring key community assets, such as farmland and livestock affected by locusts.
In Bor County, the Rit-Nhom community experienced significant benefits from project participation, enhancing agricultural production and transportation of food crops. Farmers expanded their fields, increasing sorghum yield from 0.9 tons per 2 hectares to 5.4 tons from six hectares.
Napoleon Luka, from Torit County, also reaped benefits from the LIPW Project by helping rehabilitate a road to Fodofodo that often floods. The improvements enabled easier access to fields, expanding cultivation and boosting output. Napoleon remarked, "After walking on flooded paths for hours, we often reached our farms very exhausted and unable to cultivate much."
These efforts have not only provided short-term relief but also laid a foundation for longer-term resilience by equipping participants with skills for future opportunities.