By Todd Hardesty | Executive Director
Every day in South Sudan I meet hungry people. Even without conversation you can see it on their faces. There is no food. Children are malnourished. Our workers tell me that even they only eat one meal a day—or every other day. Catastrophic floods have caused so much damage in our area of South Sudan. Food stored for the "hunger gap season" is ruined. Most homesites still under water. Tens of thousands of people on the move. The loss is extraordinary.
This is the situation today throughout much of South Sudan and throughout the area where we work in Fangak County.
Our mission to fight famine with farming has taken on a heightened importance and has us asking new questions. With a land flooded what crops can be grown? How can we respond today to help fight off the famine as soon as possible?
On a recent Wednesday the United Nations/WFP helicopter arrived with our seeds—enough for 400 families. Before distributing we are assessing each household to find out where the water has receded enough to start planting. Our assessment team will soon be ready to provide seeds and tools to those households which are not completely flooded. It’s a start.
Second, we are developing plans for a new crop to fight food insecurity. Rice. You might think that rice was already a staple crop here given that we work in the wetlands of South Sudan. But rice is relatively uncommon in this area. We think that’s about to change.
The conditions are perfect to grow rice. Just this past week we partnered with another NGO and conducted a rice planting workshop for our farmer’s counsel. We are also planning on purchasing a small rice mill. Once rice is harvested it will need to be milled. Can this be the end of food insecurity? I’m not sure, but I know it has a good chance of helping people who are starving today have food in a few months.
Fighting famine with farming—and ending food insecurity—is a long-term proposition. Today our steps are leading us closer even though climate change has changed the game. We can do this. We will with your help. Thank you.
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