Southern Sudan has bountiful natural resources and the potential to be a major producer of a wide range of agricultural commodities. Largely untapped livestock, fishery and forestry resources, adequate rainfall, fertile land, and water availability all point to the agricultural potential of southern Sudan. However, development of this sector has been stifled by the long and ongoing civil war and resulting economic isolation of the region. Constraints to agricultural production and marketing include poor infrastructure, lack of access to capital and low-level agricultural technical efficiency and skills in production, marketing, and business management.
The Southern Sudan Agriculture Revitalization Project is a direct result of the visit to northern and southern Sudan in early July 2001 by Andrew Natsios, USAID Administrator and Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. The five year, $22.5 million Southern Sudan Agriculture Revitalization Project will increase the capacity for agricultural production and marketing by:
- increasing access to agricultural skills
and technology
- increasing access to capital for agricultural
enterprises
- increasing the capacity of commodity networks to facilitate expanded trade
The project will benefit all groups in the opposition held areas of southern Sudan (regardless of political affiliation) including Upper Nile, Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria, Southern Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. It will target agricultural producers and entrepreneurs throughout these areas, with a special emphasis on community involvement and the equitable participation of women in all project components. Specifically, the project will:
1. support agriculture and business skills training in six sub-sectors (food crops, agricultural technology, forestry, livestock, wildlife, and fisheries)
2. establish a central information and data analysis collection and dissemination unit
3. provide capital to agricultural enterprises through a finance institution
4. strengthen agricultural commodity networks including shea nut processing, hides and skins, and beekeeping (shown at left)
The Southern Sudan Agriculture Revitalization Project will be managed by the USAID Regional Economic Development Services Office (REDSO) in Nairobi and implemented by a consortium (for the training, information unit, and commodity networks components), a contracting agency (for the agriculture enterprise finance component), and a technical support agreement with the USDA.