Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Eastern Equatoria State’s Information Minister, Elias Ahaji, has warned of an imminent food crisis due to severe drought conditions that have devastated crops across large parts of the state.
Speaking to Eye Radio on Thursday, Minister Ahaji said: “People are experiencing severe drought; crops are burned down. This is a major food insecurity that is looming. This is climate change.”
He said that the prolonged dry spell has destroyed first-season crops and depleted seed reserves, leaving farmers without the means to replant for the upcoming season.
“The state government will have nothing to do, other than encouraging people now to diversify their sources of livelihood,” he continued.
“What I mean here is that people should resort to encouraging business activities. Because it is in business that you can get what you don’t produce from other places. And for the business to happen, the community has to maintain peace, because peace is the prerequisite for this to happen.”
Ahaji emphasized the government’s current focus on maintaining stability to promote trade and economic activity.
“This is what we are doing as a government—ensuring the state remains safe for business activities to carry on and for people to move freely,” he added.
The minister described the overall situation as dire, noting increasing anxiety among residents about how to feed their families. Acknowledging the government’s limited resources, he urged communities to consider other income-generating activities to cope with the crisis.
Despite the hardship, he encouraged farmers to persist with agricultural activities, citing the unpredictability of climate conditions.
“Farmers have lost their first-season crops. They are also completely burned down,” said Ahaji.
“This is the time we are supposed to plant the second-season crops, and the seeds were also burned down. Currently, the farmers have exhausted their capital and the seeds. They don’t have seeds now to replant in the places that were affected by the drought.”
“They were supposed to be harvesting now, and when these crops were almost at the stage of flowering, they were all burned down. It is very difficult now for the farmers to find food to sustain their families.”
“Communities are worried, but we, as the government, are encouraging them to continue to farm. Because climate change is happening, we cannot predict when the rain will come. But we hope it will come.”
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