Juliana John shows edible leaves she has harvested in Riimenze, a small war-ravaged village in South Sudan. She is part of a women's group, sponsored by Solidarity with South Sudan, where she has learned how to produce better quality, more sustainable food - Photo Courtesy of Solidarity with South Sudan

Rural women in Yambio of Western Equatoria State have voiced their concerns about economic hardships that hinder their efforts to improve their families’ welfare and livelihoods.

It recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security, and eradicating rural poverty.

According to the United Nations, out of every 100 people, about 22 are rural women who play an important role in the health and well-being of their communities.

Thirty-six-year-old Mary Samuel, a resident of Naduru in Yambio County, says she relies on small-scale farming to sustain her family.

Due to the high cost of living, the mother of six says it is hard for her to afford paying school fees to send her children to better schools.

“We are selling our farm produce so that we can buy some soap or cloth in the town, but it is impossible because even when you go three times, you will only be able to buy one thing this is one of the challenges facing us,” said Mary Samuel.

“We have our children there in the village where the learning in the government schools is not going well unless if you have a lot of money then you can register your child in a better school but we have nothing or no other option, we could not register our children in schools,” she said.

Mary Samuel went on to appeal to the government and development partners to support women in rural areas who are struggling to transform their society.

On her part, Victoria Yotoma Jacob, the Executive Director of the New Vision for Sustainable Development organization in Yambio outlines some of the challenges rural women encounter.

“In the rural areas, women face some challenges, they lack most of the empowerment programs taking place in the town setting which is done in isolation, focusing more on the women in the towns,” said Victoria Yotoma.

“The second thing is they also lack basic services. Most rural women travel long distances to access services like health services and even bring their produce to the main town, they travel long distances. We did not take the town to villages as our hero said.,” she said.

“They also face difficulties in infrastructure, the roads they use are completely bad and sometimes they fall in the mud with their produce hence they incur a loss when they arrive with their produce in the market,” she said.

“Security on the way they are vulnerable to various forms of violence like rape and so forth,” she added.

The global theme for this year is “Rural Women Sustaining Nature for Our Collective Future: Building Climate Resilience, Conserving Biodiversity, and Caring for Land Towards Gender Equality and Empowerment.”