Mercy Corps: Strengthening Resilience in Agriculture, Livelihoods and Markets through Local Institutions in Greater Mundri

South Sudan continues to face deteriorating humanitarian conditions. People’s livelihoods are severely impacted by endemic violent conflict, economic crisis, access constraints, operational interference, and epidemic diseases, such as measles, malaria, hepatitis, cholera and by climatic shocks (floods and drought).

In Greater Mundri (Western Equatoria) the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) brought a relative stability which allowed farmers to access farmlands and increase crop production (except in a few insecure areas).

STREAM I demonstrated an agricultural potential not only for feeding the population, but also for commercial farming. With the deployment of ox-plough and power tiller (hand tractor), the harvest exceeded family consumption and was supplied to local markets. Successful crops were, among others, maize, groundnut, sesame, cassava as well as honey and lulu. STREAM II will build on these successes by facilitating the expansion and diversification of production and ensuring that supply meets demand, resulting in increased production, markets, and incomes.

STREAM II will target 35,000 (5,833 households) inclusive of participants of STREAM I (6-persons households):

-    Smallholder farmers practising rain-fed agriculture

-    Small entrepreneurs investing in honey and shea nut butter from lulu tree

-    IDPs, returnees, refugees, and host communities

-    Chronically poor rural households

-    Women, especially female headed households

-    Youth, including young women (18 – 30 years of age)

Objective 1)    Improved, more efficient, and productive agricultural inputs and output markets, and reduce the impact of climatic shock by introducing agro-ecology.

Objective 2)    Enable non-farm enterprises and smallholder farmers to add  market value and invest in expanded economic opportunities.

Objective 3)    Increase psychosocial capacities and social cohesion among communities and market actors.

-    6 vocations, (carpentry, blacksmith, mechanics, tailoring, hair dressing and embroidery) involving 272 (144 F, 128 M) youth had been established.

-    Established value addition for honey and shea nut.

-    Identified and established honey (498 M, 157 F) and lulu nut (13M 169 F) groups as part of the value chain development.

-    54 SHG trained in agronomic practices. In total, 57 SHG groups with a total number of 1,119 members, were supported.

-    Supported the local organization Active Youth Agency in community mobilization as part of localization agenda.

Resultados previstos:  

-    Provide technical skills to improve crop production;

-    Create 34 additional oxen groups to increase land under cultivation;

-    Expand the project to Mvolo County;

-    Build capacity of 17 registered cooperatives and link them to financial service providers;

-    Upgrade producer groups into seven new co-operatives and cooperatives are combined to form a union;

-    Increase the number of producer groups to 88;

-    Support cooperatives and producer groups to become agents of agricultural input distribution;

-    Complete 4 storage facilities from STREAM I and construct 10 new storages;

-    Ensure that lulu and honey products are processed, packaged, branded and distributed to more markets;

-    Conduct additional capacity training tailored to AYA;

-    Support farmers and cooperatives with two financial institutions, Eden and Cooperative Bank.

Resultados de las fases anteriores:  

-    Revived and formed 7 farmers’ cooperatives which comprises of 97 males and 161 females;

-    Improved extension services with the help of 11 trained extension officers who provided extension services to 1,362 farmers;

-    Farm size increased, in Mundri East (ME) from 2.4 feddans (f)1 to 4, in Mundri West (MW) from 2.1 – 4 (f) and in Koch from 2.0 – 3 (f) as per baseline;

-    Reduction in Post-harvest losses from 23% to 11% in MW, from 24% to 16% in ME and from 22% - 12%.

Mercy Corps South Sudan;

UN agencies (FAO and WFP)

Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Livelihood (FSL) Cluster;

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP);

Partnership for Peace, Resilience and Recovery (PfPRR);

Active Youth Agency (AYA).