Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Commissioner of Yei River County says agricultural production in the county has improved this year despite insecurity and poor road networks.
Commissioner Emmanuel Taban Seme said that despite attacks by armed opposition groups, farmers were able to cultivate on a larger scale than last year.
Seme attributed the improvement partly to an early campaign launched by the county administration to increase food production.
He said the main crops this year include maize, cassava, sorghum, coffee, peanuts, and a variety of vegetables and fruits.
“This year we launched early a agricultural growth farming initiative. So as a result, in comparison with the last year, we have really cultivated a bigger space in terms land and we have also a better harvest this year in terms of quantity of what we have produced and even the varieties of the product,” he said in an exclusive interview with Eye Radio on Thursday, October 2015.
The commissioner, however, said poor road connectivity makes it difficult for farmers to transport their produce to markets.
He added that the county has a plan to rehabilitate roads but lacks the funding to implement it.
“One of the major challenges for us even to increase the level of the product is because of the road network. You know, we have areas of production which sometimes the farmers are getting it difficult to transport their product to the market area,” he said.
“We have a plan of rehabilitating the roads and even open some roads to the area where there were no roads before. But due to the limited resources, things are a bit difficult for now. But we have the hope that if things go well, we will rehabilitate all the road,” he added.
Despite the challenges, the commissioner expressed optimism that with improved infrastructure and continued support, agricultural production in Yei River County will continue to grow.
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