Sustainable farming

Jesus was inspired by farmers and those who made their living from the land. Solidarity with South Sudan is following in His footsteps, dedicating personnel and resources to assisting and empowering the people of Riimenze, and surrounding areas, to learn best practices in farming and food production.

Riimenze is located in Western Equatoria State, a very fertile area of South Sudan with great potential for agricultural initiatives, but still underdeveloped due to armed conflicts, frequent flooding and consequent displacement of people.

The Sustainable Agricultural Project (SAP-R) in Riimenze sets out primarily to secure livelihoods. The farm itself employs about 20 permanent workers, and numerous casual workers from the surrounding communities. It provides income and training opportunity, especially for women.

Farm planning and seeding workshops are conducted for outside growers. Other workshops cover the topics of plant and environmental protection, crop rotation and propagation, post-harvest handling, and livestock, marketing and the start-up of micro-enterprises.

More than half of the participants in workshops are women.

SAP-R also runs a nutrition programme aimed at women and their children to prevent and combat child malnutrition through improved nutrition practices and optimised use of agricultural and household resources. For 2024 it is planned to reach 800 children for weight screening.

The project also uses local technology to communicate the message. Bi-monthly radio talk shows disseminate agricultural technical knowledge and information about good nutrition and hygiene practices to the broader public.

In 2023, about 20 tons of food were harvested from 120 acres of land – a huge contribution to food security in the area. The food from Riimenze farm is also sold to the Solidarity Teacher Training College in Yambio, to help feed the students there.

The overall goals of Solidarity’s involvement in agriculture are to promote better health education, provide better nutrition, encourage good agrarian practices and, generally, to assist and empower the people of South Sudan.

Solidarity helps the local economy function better by the injection of funds through employment, and the introduction of basic farming practices, rather than developing large commercial enterprises that depend on expensive equipment. The environmentally friendly approach is based on the implementation of climate-smart farming methods and controlled integrated breeding.

Solidarity is developing and building local capacity that can serve as an example to more people living in the rural areas of South Sudan.

Download the project infographic HERE!