President Kiir and UN officials pose for a photo after the signing of an MoU on agricultural development in South Sudan. (Office of the President).

South Sudan government and three United Nations agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to invest in rural agriculture in South Sudan.

This is according to Deng Dau Deng, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Rome-based UN agencies include the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program as well as the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Speaking to the press, Acting Minister Dau describes cooperation as a very important step forward to increase food production in rural settings.

“It is important to recall that today they have signed a memorandum of understanding working together with these three agencies in South Sudan,” he said.

“This is a very important step forward to ensure partnership and to ensure the rural lives, particularly on how to upgrade and to increase the production in the rural setting. They want to invest more money in our rural areas, and we want to congratulate these three agencies.

“The President assured these three-room-based agencies of the cooperation of the government to advance in all areas particularly in the delivery of humanitarian or in areas of helping our rural areas”.

Minister Deng Dau did not reveal any funding allocation for the project.

But in a press release, yesterday revealed that the International Fund for Agricultural Development channeled 77.26 million US dollars in investments to three rural development projects, reaching 76,800 rural households.

The 2023 to 2029 project is targeting six states namely Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, Western Equatoria, and Jonglei).