By Joseph Scott, Communications and Policy Coordinator
Story of Natalia Adong (36)
Thirty-six-year-old Natalia from Torit has just returned home after spending three years seeking refuge in the neighbouring state of Ikwotos. Her village was ransacked during the height of conflict in South Sudan in 2016. During the violence, her husband was shot and later died in hospital.
“I have six young children and had to take them somewhere safe,” says Natalia. When a semblance of peace returned in her community, Natalia decided to come back to her village to start a new life again.
Bad weather and army worms destroy crops
“When I came, I planted sorghum but I didn’t harvest anything,” she says. “We had a mix of bad weather and bad fortunes as my whole field was destroyed by army worms and excessive heat due to prolonged dry spells.”
To survive, Natalia complements farming with a firewood business. She travels for two hours to the forest to collect firewood which she sells at the local market. On a good day, she gets about 250 South Sudanese Pounds (less than $2), which she uses to buy sorghum for a day’s meal.
Natalia and her family eat lunch made from wild leaves. This is the only meal for the day for the family as hunger bites hard in South Sudan.
“It’s a risk going to that forest,” says Natalia. “There are bad people in the forest always harassing us. Sometimes they beat and rob us of our tools. This means we can’t cut the wood so we return home empty handed.”
Wild fruits and leaves for food
When she has no income from the firewood business, Natalia forages in the bushes for any edible wild fruits or leaves to feed her family. She says some leaves are bitter, but doesn’t have a choice as her children expect food on the table every day.
“I look at my kids and feel the pain of a mother when I can’t feed them,” she says. “I have at least try to give them one meal a day. But this is becoming more difficult.”
Like many in her community, the wild fruits and wild vegetables have become her family’s only hope for survival. But with the rains yet to start, the vegetation is drying and so are their source of food.
“When I can’t find anything in the bushes, I force myself to go to the forest again. I know it’s dangerous but my children have to eat. With God’s grace, I have survived. But for now. One of my friends was recently sexually abused in the forest and I am afraid something may happen to me as well.”
CARE’s intervention
If the rains come in good time, Natalia’s fortunes may change for the better. She recently received a starter pack of seeds and farm equipment from CARE. The seeds, which consists of the staple millet, and an array of vegetables will improve her food production as they are a high yielding variety.
“I look forward to the rains since I now have seeds for my farm,” says Natalia. “I am very grateful to CARE for the help. If we get good rains, I am sure I will harvest enough to feed my family.”
In addition to the seeds, Natalia has been linked to a CARE supported farmer group in her area. They meet regularly to share experiences in modern farming methods and proper preservation of harvest to avoid loses.
Story of Mary Amal
Mary Amal is a hard working mother of four from Torit. She is a widow. Her husband died in 2014 after suffering from a prolonged cough.
“My husband was a charcoal burner,” says Mary. “During his work, he would inhale a lot of smoke and ash. This made him cough every day. He never recovered from the cough, which led to his death.”
Drought expose family to hunger
Left with four young children to feed, Mary continued farming the family plot. When the rains were good, she was able to produce enough. But for the past two years, her harvest has been bad. Last year, she only managed to produce only one bag of sorghum that lasted the family only three months.
“I don’t have anything to eat now,” she says. “If I don’t go into the bush to look for wild fruits, my children will sleep on an empty stomach.”
Mary dries the wild fruit which has become their only source of food and survival
Wild fruits for food
Mary travels for four hours every day to collect wild fruits, which she cooks for the family. The small brown fruits are difficult to prepare. She has to peel them first to expose the small flesh inside.
“I have to wash the flesh thoroughly before cooking. If I don’t do that, it becomes bitter and also poisonous,” says Mary whose family, has more than once suffered from diarrhea after eating the wild fruit. “I have to cook them for more than three hours before we eat,” she says.
Hunger leading to malnutrition
Two months ago, Mary third born child developed diarrhea after eating the wild fruits for lunch. She rushed him to the hospital, and fortunately, he got treated. But since then, he started refusing eating the wild fruits.
“I had nothing to give him and he got so malnourished,” says Mary. “I had no choice but to send him away to my brother. He has better chances of surviving there because they at least have some food.”
CARE gives hope to Mary
In the past, Mary has only been planting sorghum for food. However, this led to lack of variety in the family’s diet. To help boost Mary food production and dietary diversification, CARE supported her with high yielding sorghum seeds and a variety of vegetable seeds.
“I am looking forward to the farming season,” says Mary who has also been linked to lead farmers in her group to learn better farming methods. “It is difficult to get seeds for vegetables in this area. With the seeds I got from CARE, I hope to plant enough vegetables so that my children don’t suffer from malnutrition again.”
Photos: Joseph Scott / CARE
For more of our work in South Soudan, click here.