Sudan’s long civil war claimed more than two million lives, mainly due to hunger rather than as a direct result of the combat. Intense fighting disrupted cultivation and raids by combatants took the little food farmers had left.
Crops devastated
In 1998, following a prolonged drought, around 2.5 million were at risk of starvation.
With access for aid agencies restricted, the World Food Programme resorted to using air drops to reach some of the worst affected areas such as Bahr el Ghazal state.
Despite this intervention an estimated 70,000 people died.
‘That famine started with a long dry spell whereby the crops did not reach a certain level,’ explains Majok Mabuong Lual who lives in Acumcum, Bahr el Ghazal.
‘The crops started drying up and when the rain fell you had to try to prevent the insects that came.’
Plenty after drought
When Christian Aid partner Hope Agency for Relief and Development (HARD) began working with the community to help them recover from the drought, farmers like Majok were eager to learn how they could increase their yields and provide enough food for their families.
‘They supported me with local seeds and local tools. They introduced training for ox ploughs and training for oxen. Now I am feeling a great difference. I don’t experience hunger during the hunger gap,’ says Majok.
Community support
Today Majok is so successful that he not only provides enough for his whole family but has a houseful of guests most nights.
Along with other successful farmers, like his neighbour John Koru Agang, he is passing on his knowledge to other community members to ensure HARD’s training reaches as many people as possible.
Christian Aid is now supporting HARD to ensure this message goes even further.
HARD has done more than simply ensuring that people can grow enough to eat: it has helped communities shattered by decades of conflict work together to improve life for everyone.
And it is helping these same communities get over their dependency on aid brought by decades of civil war.
‘I will not wait for NGOs to come and give me seeds or help. It is me now helping others,’ says John.
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