Darren Manning, the acting Mission Director of USAID in South Sudan handing over agriculture supplies and equipment to leader of one of the recipient organizations on Thursday in Juba Nov. 3, 2022 - Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio

The US Agency for International Development has handed over Agriculture supplies and equipment to six national Organizations to support farmers and community businesses in three states in the country.

The agriculture supplies and equipment include sorghum threshers, maize shellers, nets, and wooden canoes for fishing as well as cold chain fish storage.

Others include vegetable seeds, hoes, slashes, measuring taps, ledger books, lock boxes, and electronic calculators for village-serving loan associations, among others.

Darren Manning, the acting Mission Director of USAID in South Sudan believes the support will enable South Sudanese communities to transit from short-term humanitarian assistance to longer-term sustainable development.  

“Through RASS USAID works to improve resilience and food security in the targeted USAID counties through strategic interventions,” said Manning.

“Equipment such as solar fridges, grinding mills, fish nets and other items will be used to address food insecurity challenges in the targeted counties,

“I was very impressed to learn about the work that these local organizations are performing to improve the lives of many in South Sudan,

“As USAID, local partners create the bridge, so communities can transition away from short-term humanitarian assistance to longer-term sustainable development.”

Speaking during the same event, Itai Makanda, the Chief of the Party for USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan says the program will improve the livelihood of communities in 13 counties in three states.

“The aim of the RASS (Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan) activity is to reduce long term reliance on humanitarian assistance,” Makanda said.

“This is done through improving food security, community resilience and household recovery in the targeted counties and they are 13 of them,

“The work is basically strengthening the capacities of local systems by building their ability to with stand shocks or recover from shocks as quickly as possible.”

The local organizations are set to distribute the supplies to small hold farmers, local businesses, fisher folks, and emerging village-based financial associations to build their capabilities and resilience.