Akuilina Ihurre used to think she was too old to join a farmers’ group but she knew she needed support to overcome years of hunger. Today, she is producing food with seeds, agricultural tools and techniques acquired through an FAO Farmer Field School in Torit, in South Sudan.
Akuilina is one of nearly 1 800 people who are learning farming skills at more than 60 new FAO agropastoral Farmer Field Schools in the state of Eastern Equatoria. Her group of 30 farmers includes 20 women, many of whom are single mothers with sole responsibility for their children.
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are centered on the concept of hands-on learning with the goal of building on farmers’ skills and enhancing their capacity to critically analyse and solve their agricultural challenges. In FFS, farmers are the experts and decide what is relevant to them and what they want the FFS to address in their curriculum. This ensures that the information is relevant and tailored to the participants’ actual needs.
“Together we have planted a whole field of vegetables and crops that help to feed our families,” Akuilina says.
This is a turning point for the mother of seven children and grandmother of five, who in recent years was widowed,attacked and robbed in her own home.
Akuilina was born more than sixty years ago, though she doesn’t know her exact age. When she was an infant, her mother gave her the second name “Ihurre”, which means “hunger.”
“Hunger and hardship have followed me all of my life,” Akuilina says.
South Sudan has experienced ongoing conflict, an economic downturn and deepening food insecurity, but Akuilina is doing her part to realize her community’s potential. She lives in a fertile, picturesque area of the country, nestled between green hills and a rocky mountain range.
