Women-led vegetable farming: Beating hunger gaps and boosting nutrition in South Sudan’s Warrap State
Resilience begins at home. This statement holds true in Tonj County in Warrap State as mothers learn to cash in on more effective and sustainable ways to grow and harvest nutritious vegetables in their backyards.
For many years, Agar, a 38-year-old mother of 10, had been harvesting wild vegetables in their village for her family’s daily food consumption. She relied on whatever was available, a practice that was not sustainable, especially in the dry season. She knew that she needed to do something to ensure she and her children had sufficient food.
She registered immediately when she heard about a farming project offering to train community members on backyard gardening and vegetable production. Agar and 24 other women in their community participated in the Greater Resilience through Enhanced Agriculture and Nutrition (GREAN) project.
“My fortune came when I joined the vegetable production group. I received training on good vegetable production practices such as nursery bed care, line planting, timely weeding, and pest and disease control methods,” expressed Agar. All this new knowledge she acquired from the training enabled her to successfully establish her vegetable garden with four seedbeds where she planted nutrition-filled vegetables that can grow almost all year round. “I planted Amaranthus, purslane, okra, jute mallow, and Sukuma wiki (kale),” she said.
According to Emmanuel Leju, GREAN project Economic Development Specialist, a vegetable garden is a 70X60 plot of land where farmers are taught how to cultivate various vegetables for home consumption. “The farmers are expected to transfer the knowledge acquired and apply it to their kitchen gardens. When the farmers learn how to plant nutrient-rich vegetables, they supplement their diets at home. A nutrient-rich meal helps lower malnutrition, especially among children, lactating and pregnant women,” he explained. The GREAN Project is funded by Australian Aid.
Equipped with new skills, Agar could also turn portions of her harvests into profits. “I sell some of the vegetables and use the money from the sale to buy salt, soap, sheep, and chicken, as well as pay for my children’s school needs,” she said.
Agar also learned how to save her earnings when she joined the Savings for Transformation (S4T) group in her community supported by the GREAN Project.
S4T groups are savings groups where members meet regularly to save money and discuss challenges that affect their daily living. They borrow from the collective savings to invest in income-generating activities and pay for school fees and medical bills. "After the sales of the surplus produced, the mothers can save up to 50% of the income earned into their S4T groups. By combining the two approaches – vegetable gardens and S4T, the GREAN project saw the sustained success of 60 vegetable gardens and equivalent 60 S4T groups in South Sudan,” Emmanuel said.
“In February this year, my second-born child fell sick with malaria. At the same time, I had planned to start the business of buying goats in Manding-kar village and selling them in Warrap town market. Without hesitation, I borrowed 60,000 SSP (1 USD = 130 South Sudanese Pound) from the S4T group, then I used 20,000 SSP for my child's medication and invested the rest of the money into the planned business,” Agar shared.
Agar and her vegetable garden group plan to expand their garden as they learn more about vegetable production and good agronomic practices. They hope their garden will become a hub for fresh vegetables and generate more income to sustain their families.
Agar also encouraged other community members to join vegetable groups and establish gardens. “I am much willing to cascade the same knowledge I have acquired to the other women and men so that we can be economically empowered as a community,” Agar said.
She expressed gratitude to World Vision for its continued support. She also urged World Vision to expand its humanitarian assistance to other remote areas so other communities can benefit from its support.
Story by Gerald Yengi, World Vision South Sudan Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for the GREAN Project