South Sudan aims for 2.5 million tonnes of food output annually

Mathew Gordon Udo, undersecretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Cooperatives and Rural Development, told Xinhua in Juba that the country hopes to be a regional food basket by implementing its five-year agricultural sector policy framework and the 25 year comprehensive agricultural master plan.

"Our plan is to produce 2.5 million tonnes of food but in 2014 we had a deficit of 400,000 tonnes.

"We hope this deficit to be covered by our development partners. The president has himself donated 1,000 mechanical tractors to various counties in the country for cultivation," Udo said.

He said South Sudan has agricultural potential with its vast arable land and 38 million livestock.

Currently oil and mining have dominated the economy in terms of revenue to finance 98 percent of the fiscal budget since the country's independence from Sudan in 2011.

Udo said the world's youngest country is divided in seven agricultural zones where different type of crops and livestock can be raised.

"In the south we have the green belt, iron stone plateau, western and eastern flood plains, mountainous area and semi-arid area where crops like rice, sorghum, maize, cassava, coffee, tea, mangoes, and guava can be grown," he explained.

The government official lamented that despite having 15 million cattle and abundant food production potentials, the country has heavily relied on the less profitable peasant agriculture instead of modernized agriculture.

"The use of this livestock for commercial purpose is not there. We don't sell our livestock but instead keep cattle for social prestige and we use traditional system of management. If we transform these by reducing the total density of livestock and sell to the world market then we can be rich," Udo explained.

He called for increased budget allocation to agriculture from the meager 1.5 percent to at least 5 percent to achieve meaningful impact in alleviating food insecurity that has led to community conflicts as a result of scarcity of water points and grazing land.

The Maputo Convention signed by African countries calls for at least budgetary allocation of 10 percent to agriculture. He appealed to the international community and investors to invest in the sector.

"We have come up with projects but it's not only the government to take the lead, the private investors must come in through public private partnership to transform agricultural sector from subsistence to modernized agriculture," he said.

Udo also disclosed they plan to use the established agricultural bank to support farmers with loans.

"In reality our agricultural bank now is nominal because it is not fully registered and its prerequisite capital has not yet been paid to the bank of South Sudan for it to function. It has been requesting for capital from the government for registration to function," he noted.

He also explained that land acquisition for large scale agriculture has been hampered by legal framework, which he said will be solved by the national land use policy in the offing. The country's agriculture is rain fed and they plan to use irrigation to power it.

"Our agriculture depends entirely on rainfall.

"Sometimes floods due to heavy rainfall affect food production.

"We also have long term drought in places like Eastern Equatoria, Magwi, Aweil, Ikotos and Kapoeta areas," he said.

He added that this can be tackled with irrigation agriculture in areas close to the Nile and flood plains, but only if peace is maintained..

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United Nations says over 69,000 South Sudanese refugees arrive in Sudan

KHARTOUM Sudan (Xinhua) -- More than 69,000 South Sudanese have arrived in Sudan since January this year as a result of conflict and deteriorating food security in South Sudan, said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its newest weakly bulletin.

"The majority of refugees from South Sudan entered East Darfur State, which is hosting about 45,500, or 66 percent of all the new arrivals in 2016," it noted.

OCHA further stated that another 5,324 refugees have arrived in Bileil camp for internally displaced persons in South Darfur and have been registered by Sudan's Commissioner of Refugees.

In West Kordofan, 7,241 people have been reported by the Humanitarian Aid Commission, and in White Nile and Khartoum states, the UN Refugee Agency and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society have registered 9,000 and 940 arrivals, respectively, it said.

In February, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said that over 50,000 South Sudanese have reached Sudan since the beginning of 2016, surpassing the planned figure set for the entire year.

UN agencies warned against funding shortfall for the assistance to South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, saying that "only 18 percent of the 2016 humanitarian requirement has been funded, leaving over 128 million U.S. dollars in unmet needs."

According to UNHCR, 226,950 South Sudanese have sought safety and assistance in Sudan since December 2013.

The majority of the Southern Sudanese refugees in Sudan live in seven camps in White Nile, East Darfur, West Kordofan and Khartoum States.

On March 17, the Sudanese government decided to treat the South Sudanese citizens residing in Sudan as foreigners, and it would take legal measures against whoever does not have a passport or an entry visa..

South Sudan transitional government to release prisoners of war

JUBA South Sudan (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's transitional government has announced that it will free more than 200 prisoners of war from both sides of a more-than-two-year civil conflict.

Information Minister Michael Makuei said a total of 224 prisoners of war would be released as a key step to shore up peace and reconciliation in a country that has just begun to heal from the civil war.

"It is agreed that all prisoners of war should be released," Makuei told journalists after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir in the capital Juba.

The government spokesperson did not specify when the release will take place but said the process should have started earlier this year.

He said President Kiir's side will release about 59 prisoners while the Sudan People Liberation Movement-in-Opposition led by Riek Machar will free 165. All these prisoners will be handed over to their previous institutions.

Earlier this month, First Vice President Machar, the former rebel leader, said prisoners of war and those "detained politically" should be released in order to ensure peace and stability.

"If you have peace agreement and now form a transitional government of national unity, you cannot keep your citizens as prisoners of war. These are the immediate things that need to be done with the formation of transitional government," Machar said on May 5.

South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 when President Kiir accused his sacked deputy Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the charge but then formed his rebel force.

Tens of thousands have been killed in the war which has split the country along ethnic lines.

Machar returned to Juba and was reconciled with Kiir late last month under a peace agreement signed by the two in August last year under UN pressure.

Machar took up his old post as vice president on the day of his return and a transitional government of national unity was formed days later..

Sudan pledges to review South Sudan oil transit fees

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Minister of Petroleum and Gas Mohammed Zaid Awad said his ministry is committed to Sudan president's directives to review South Sudan's oil transit fees, Radio Tamazuj reported.

"Stability in South Sudan will help in developing the relationship with the two countries. Many issues with the two countries are governed by agreements signed by both sides," the Sudanese minister was quoted as saying.

He said that Sudan is ready to cooperate with all partners and international companies in oil industry who helped extract oil in Sudan.

Last January, al-Bashir directed to revise the interim economic measures with the Republic of South Sudan regarding the fees of transporting its oil through Sudan's territories.

South Sudan has repeatedly asked Sudan's government to reduce the oil transit fees due to the drop in the global oil prices and decline of the South's oil production to around 160,000 barrels a day due to the civil war which broke out in the new-born country in December 2013.

The oil deal, signed between Sudan and South Sudan in September 2012, stipulates that Juba would pay three billion dollars as assistance to Sudan in a period of three years besides that South Sudan's government would pay about 20 dollars as oil transit fees per barrel.

Before the signing of the agreement, Sudan suggested allotting a portion of South Sudan's oil as transit fees instead of specifying a figure, but South Sudan then dismissed the proposal and insisted on determining a figure..

South Sudan hands over 56 abducted children to Ethiopia

JUBA South Sudan (Xinhua) -- The South Sudan government has confirmed handing over 56 out of 108 children who were abducted in last month's across border raid by the militia to the Ethiopian authorities.

Information, Communication Technology and Postal Service Minister, Michael Makuei said government has stepped up efforts to recover more children who were abducted by the militia on April 15.

"Fifty-six children have so far been handed over to Ethiopian authorities. Efforts are still underway to recover the rest of the children who have not yet been found," Makuei told Xinhua late on Friday.

Gunmen from South Sudan's Murle tribe descended on a dozen villages in Ethiopia's remote Gambella province on April 15, snatching children, shooting adults and carrying off more than 2,000 head of cattle.

The militia massacred 208 villagers and kidnapped 102 children in a cross-border raid. The gunmen reportedly took advantage of the country's insecurity situation and the porous border with Ethiopia to carry out the heinous crime.

Makuei said South Sudan's Defence Minister Kuol Manyang and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) General Paul Malong this week visited the Ethiopian border to add more synergies in the recovery of more children so that they can be reunited with their families peacefully.

"The two senior officials' mission was to intensify search for rescue of the children so that they can be reunited with their families," Makuei said.

He said efforts to recover the children have been underway as jointly deployed forces continue with search of remaining children at the border.

The Ethiopian official had linked the armed attackers to South Sudan government troops and opposition forces, an allegation disputed by Juba.

In addition, Addis Ababa also issued South Sudan ultimatum of 14 days to recover all the abducted children before sending troops in-search for the children along.

Cross-border raids are not unusual in the Horn of Africa country's Gambella region, which is situated on the border with South Sudan.

Ethnic communities in both nations have frequently clashed over land, livestock and resources such as grazing rights and water.

The Murle tribe has been accused of stealing cattle as well as children to raise as their own during previous raids.

Those targeted in the mid April raid were members of the Nuer ethnic group, who live in both Ethiopia and South Sudan.