Beneficiaries harvesting sorghum in Aweil, South Sudan after receiving seeds and tools from FAO

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Geert Geut, and the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in South Sudan, Serge Tissot, signed an arrangement for a contribution of $6 million by the Netherlands to FAO on Friday 10 November, for the pool-funded Emergency Livelihood and Resilience Programme in South Sudan in 2018.

The programme aims to increase 3.9 million peoples’ abilities to produce their own food by providing them with fishing, crop- and vegetable-growing kits. Over 80 percent of South Sudanese solely depend on agriculture for their livelihood, yet a lack of proper fishing equipment, quality seeds and planting materials severely constrains yields. By saving livelihoods, lives are saved.

Livestock, particularly cattle, goats and sheep are an important social and economic asset in South Sudan, and under this programme FAO will protect these assets through the vaccination and treatment campaign targeting up to 7.4 million animals.

“We are very honoured to receive this generous donation by the Government of the Netherlands, which comes at a critical time for the people of South Sudan,” said Serge Tissot, FAO Representative in South Sudan. “Our latest assessments show that in 2018 FAO must respond to the highest levels of food insecurity ever reported, making this funding critical.”

The households targeted with this funding will hail from the most food insecure regions, specifically those residing in areas which are classified according to the internationally-agreed scale as having Emergency, Crisis and Famine levels of food insecurity.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report released this week indicates 4.8 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity, of which 25 000 people are facing catastrophic conditions of food insecurity in two counties: Wau and Ayod.

“Netherlands is very pleased to contribute, with other donors, to this programme, as it is an important element in our collective effort to improve food security in South Sudan” says Geert Geut, Ambassador of the Netherlands to South Sudan. “The programme will work with 650 000 households throughout the country and help farmers, livestock keepers and fishermen, many of them women, to survive and create a decent source of living again.”

With this generous contribution from the Government of the Kingdom of Netherlands - along with contributions from UKAID, USAID/OFDA, Norway, World Bank, SSHF and the Vatican - FAO’s Emergency Livelihood and Resilience Programme in South Sudan is 28 percent funded. FAO still requires USD 45 million in additional funding for the programme in 2018 to meet its targets.