Reasons why South Sudan must look into agriculture to suit its basic needs!
BY: Chuol Lieth, USA MAY 10/2012, SSN; The idea of having enough food for any country matters; food security is one the most fundamental things that any nation should work hard to control before proceeding further on its future. Before I got deeper into this I have this little note to say, if a man is using another man’s bathroom to do his business every day that man must know that he has an imperative job to do to better himself for it is only when he is using his own bathroom that he can beat his chest, relax and say, yes, this is mine! In this case the new nation may not be far away from a such condition. Currently, Republic of South Sudan is importing mostly everything from its neighbors which is partially acceptable since it is only nine months old and cannot afford to rely on itself. However, the question that many South Sudanese tended to wonder is, for how long shall our government depend on its neighbors to suit its basic needs? Similarly, South Sudanese would also like to know whether or not the governments have plans in terms of agriculture to ensure food security in the whole country! Let’s make no mistake, the job of feeding people is not an easy job. Every country which had achieved significant economic power in this world had gone through the basics of agriculture to reach the top which is one of the reasons why agriculture is considered to be the very basis of political and social stability of any nation. Agriculture is the main source of food and fiber for a country’s economy. These are the requirements, because if our government is unable to feed its people, what else will it do? Only when a nation's food needs are satisfied, that it is able to move on to develop industry as well as service professions on any kind of a scale. If you look at most African countries today, the fundamental thing that you will notice is the lack of food available in any quantity beyond basic survival. This is usually due to some mixture of: the lack of decent farmland, lack of knowledge as to how to put their land to the best use and distribution. In many cases, most corrupt governments on this continent are trying to control the food as a means of power. And that is really bad for a continent which totally depends on foreign aid to feed its people. I know that in South Sudan, nearly everyone is doing what they can to produce or find the food they need to live on; meaning little else can be done to better its nation’s future. Having said that, the only practical way for South Sudan to avoid falling in that trap is to provide agricultural tools and train knowledgeable people to learn about how farming is done, and make recommendations as to how to do things more efficiently and successfully. As well, they should be helped to find ways to make more useful tools and simple implements at a low cost out of locally available materials. I said these because I know South Sudan, apart from the oil, has a very fertile soil which mostly everything can grow in it. Furthermore, if you look at today’s world you would notice that the agricultural sector plays a significant role in the sphere of providing large scale employment to people. Large and moderately large farms employ workers to undertake the countless jobs relating to cultivation of crops and care of farm animals. In most of the countries of the world, agriculture still remains the biggest section responsible for the employing and feeding a large percentage of the population. In summary, agriculture is also vital from the point of view of reviewing the standard of a country's development, based on the capability of its farmers. That’s main thing our country should focus on now since it is starting everything from scratch! In the past prior to 1989’s coup, our people used to raise cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and the list can go on and on. At that duration everyone worked long and hard, but nowadays the results were often insufficient. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves due to insecurity. Now that disarmament has been taken seriously there is no reason or excuse as to why our people should not get back to farming if all the above-mentioned are met by our government. COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the website. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
