Shortly after Natalina Atim began farming in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state, her one-hectare maize field suffered a significant loss due to a locust invasion. The 2021 locust plague, the most severe in South Sudan's recent history, devastated many farms like Atim's in Magwi County. This destruction severely impacted the food security and livelihoods of numerous vulnerable individuals, predominantly women.
Despite these challenges, Atim continued with subsistence farming to support her family of nine. “When the locusts invaded our farm, we lost almost everything as we had not yet harvested,” she recalled. The situation was particularly dire because they had recently returned from a refugee camp in Uganda.
Atim and her Lacas Pelony farming group received training in pest surveillance and agronomy practices and were provided seeds for maize, cassava, and cowpeas. Utilizing this assistance, Atim cultivated six hectares over three seasons, harvesting seven tonnes of cassava and 2.2 tonnes of maize.
To aid recovery from the locust outbreak, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) allocated $143 million for two projects: the Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project (RALP) and Emergency Locust Response Project (ELRP). These initiatives are implemented by South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
These projects aim to assist vulnerable groups such as women farmers by providing resources and training in agriculture. They have facilitated women's efforts to raise 403,000 seedlings and improved community infrastructure like roads and pesticide stores.
Amer Bech Anyuat chairs the RALP-supported Matjot Multipurpose Cooperative for Seed Production for Market in Makuach Payam. Her cooperative has seen increased sorghum yields thanks to leadership training and agricultural resources provided by RALP.
Debora Peter shared how support through RALP enabled her group to cultivate three hectares of sorghum: “The agriculture people came to us here...now you can see I am harvesting sorghum in my garden.”
Additionally, RALP addresses nutritional gaps by supporting women vegetable farmers. In Torit County's Iluhum area, households often lacked access to diverse vegetables due to high market prices or limited availability.
Mama Tina joined Muhaba crop production group in 2022 where she learned kitchen gardening techniques that allowed her family access to home-grown vegetables such as amaranths and jute melon: “With the farming skills...now we produce all our vegetables.”