Women in Malakal participate in reintegration-inducing vegetable farming training

28 Aug 2018

Women in Malakal participate in reintegration-inducing vegetable farming training

Janet Adongo

Fertile ground with strategically placed vegetable seedlings. Add a splash of rain and a few rays of sun and there you go: the life-essential phenomenon of photosynthesis will crack on before your eyes. In a Malakal garden, this nifty process has received a helping hand by Indian peacekeepers, teaching some 70 women how to grow their own nutritious goodies.

Farming for food and reintegration could be the name of this initiative by the Civil Affairs Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. While it is not, the project has still brought together women from Malakal town and some of their peers staying at the UN protection site.

Watching these merry ladies at work on a site provided by the local Ministry of Agriculture, one would have been forgiven for calling this a day of farming fun.

Nyaou Aroum is one of the participating women, and quite a forward-thinking one at that.

“If we show we are serious about this, then the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) can assist us with the seeds we need to plant in our gardens. I already have my own garden here, so I am asking that we join hands and work together,” she appeals passionately.

The women peer over one another’s shoulders as the Indian peacekeepers take them through the motions before giving them a proper go at it. The eager students in fact learned not only how to plant seeds but also how to make composts.

Differences were set aside as they took turns on the watering can, passing it back and forth like a relay team undecided as to which direction their baton should be moving in.

It’s a bit like an exercise of collective cooperation, something that will come in handy to facilitate the future reintegration of different communities. There will be work to do, as nearly 30,000 displaced persons still remain at the Malakal protection site, almost five years after the start of the country’s armed conflict.

Civil affairs officer Yosef Damena believes that the inter-communal farming activity provides an opportunity for the women both to rebuild social fabrics and to foster skills in leadership and entrepreneurship.

“Social cohesion can be achieved through community-based development programmes such as these,” she says. “Skills training is one of the ways the Mission is using to help build durable peace, and it prepares the people for their return and reintegration into their communities.”

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan Hillary Garang Deng, who joined in the training, expressed his optimism about the project having a significant impact in the revival of Malakal town.

“Women play a crucial role in the well-being of families and communities and they should be encouraged and taught how to cultivate land and other skills,” he said.

At the end of the on-farm demonstration, participants were given a variety of seeds, including bottle gourd, chilli, coriander, mustard, beans, spinach, cucumber, better gourd and lady fingers, to enable them to start their own individual farm projects.