In the thick forests of South Sudan's Western Bahr El-Ghazal State lies a small village called Getty, spread over fertile swathes of land that had once served as battlefields.

Majok Madut has been cultivating this terrain for two years, toiling steadily alongside his family, until the day his spade scraped against something hard and metallic -- unexploded ammunition.

As more explosive remnants were uncovered, Mr. Madut grew fearful of tending his field.

Once home to Sudan Armed Forces' military barracks, his field was littered with mortars, rockets, and propellants left over from the protracted Sudanese civil war.

Mr. Madut was not the only villager to find explosive remnants in the area. Other locals had reported newly found ammunition and unexploded ordnances in the area to the sub-office of UNMAS South Sudan, the agency coordinating mine action in the country.

Reports of contamination in the area were preventing returnees from resettling in the village, according to Mark Dut Opiou, Deputy Administrator of Udish Payam, Getty's administrative district. "As a result of the contamination in the area, people are afraid of returning to their homes."

Acting on the villagers' reports, UNMAS tasked a demining contractor, The Development Initiative (TDI), to clear Mr. Majok's contaminated field and other areas in the village. Operations began in 2011 and finished in August 2012.

Pleased with the clearance, Mr. Majok said he now felt "safer about cultivating". He is growing soy gum, maize and wheat and has plans to expand his cultivation.

"I want my neighbours, who are farmers, to join forces with me," he said. A partnership would pool resources and increase yield.

Mr. Opiou, the Deputy Administrator, is expecting more people to return to the village due to clearance operations. "The village will expand," he said.

Clearance of contaminated fields around Getty village allowed people who fled their homes during the war to resettle and agriculture to expand, bolstering food security and improving local livelihoods.

UNMAS South Sudan will continue to support the government in achieving national mine action aims, ensuring it supports socio-economic development and rebuilding critically needed infrastructure.