The caretaker government of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State is seeking additional support to help farmers recover from a dry spell that has affected agricultural production, as Chinese officials and the World Food Programme (WFP) assess the impact and identify areas requiring assistance.
Caretaker Governor Charles Madut Akol raised the concerns on Thursday during a meeting with China’s ambassador to South Sudan, Mia Qiang, and a WFP delegation visiting the state.
The delegation is expected to visit Aweil East and Aweil South counties to assess farming activities and explore opportunities to support vegetable production, gardening projects and food assistance.
Speaking on behalf of the governor, caretaker Information Minister Dominic Kang Deng Kang said the visit would help identify the needs of farming communities affected by the dry spell.
“The purpose of the visit of His Excellency the ambassador is to come and assess the area. He has greater concerns about the dry spell that occurred this season,” Kang said.
He added that the delegation would visit the two counties to inspect gardens and farms cultivated by local communities.
Kang said the governor had also asked the Chinese delegation to consider supporting the construction of feeder roads to connect farming communities to markets.
“The caretaker governor has mentioned a few important things to them, including feeder roads that need to be constructed to take farmers to the market,” he said.
He added that the governor had requested Chinese support for the construction of the University of Northern Bahr el Ghazal and the provision of books for the institution.
China pledges continued cooperation
China’s ambassador to South Sudan, Mia Qiang, said the visit was intended to assess conditions on the ground and explore ways to strengthen agricultural cooperation, particularly in response to climate-related challenges such as droughts and floods.
He said the visit was also aimed at implementing commitments made by the leaders of China and South Sudan during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing in September 2024.
“We would like to see the actual conditions here in the state,” Mia said.
He added that the two countries had agreed to strengthen cooperation in agriculture during a bilateral meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
“During the meeting, they reached a very important consensus. One of them is to strengthen our cooperation in fields like agriculture,” he said.
Mia said he was visiting Northern Bahr el Ghazal to explore how China could help South Sudanese communities through agricultural cooperation.
WFP highlights food security and livelihoods
Meanwhile, WFP representative and Country Director Mutinta Chimuka reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to working with the state government and other partners to improve agricultural production, household nutrition and community resilience.
Chimuka said support for farmers, particularly women, could help households produce food for their own consumption and generate income by selling surplus crops.
“We really want to make sure that we can change lives,” she said, citing the impact of programmes that have enabled women to grow crops for household consumption and earn income from sales.
She said better access to agricultural production could improve nutrition while providing families with money to meet other household needs.
Chimuka also stressed the importance of strengthening community resilience so that households become less dependent on external assistance.
“That’s the way that we can continue, along with other ways, to build resilience and also ensure that people don’t need to rely on externals, whether the government or others, to support their daily lives,” she said.
The visit comes as Northern Bahr el Ghazal seeks additional assistance to address the effects of the dry spell, support agricultural recovery and strengthen food security among affected communities.
The post Northern Bahr el Ghazal seeks farm support during WFP, Chinese diplomat visit first appeared on Eye Radio.