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Miyar De'Nyok - My Blog
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Self-determination politics: the South Sudan
Related to country: Sudan

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Reducing Poverty in Southern Sudan through Subsistence Farming: by Miyar De'Nyok or Akurdit (Canada , mi.akurdit@gmail.com)
In Southern Sudan, subsistence farming is the most important aspect of economic, socio-ecological, cultural and political development strategies. Good governance and local citizens’ involvement in farming production are crucial because subsistence agriculture is the main source of food for the entire population of Southern Sudan. Good governance manipulates decision-making positively by providing energy efficiency, funding special agricultural programmes, and commanding and determining marketability for farmers’ agricultural products. The local government has the power to enforce laws and policies that protect farmers from foreign businesses and to guarantee that all peasants have the adequate knowledge and skills to manage their own farming system ecologically. The local citizens have the right to participate in decision-making locally; it is their social responsibility to implement and imitate policies that favour and enhance the ability to produce sustainably.

More importantly, sustainability is defined as the ability and process of protecting and supporting stewardship of natural resources by integrating the influences of good governance, the equity of socio-economic development, and the conservation of biophysical impacts. Sustainable development strategy will help Southern Sudan subsistence farming communities and evaluates its effectiveness in protecting natural resources, improving agricultural resources, and conserving biodiversities. Previously, the majority of Southern Sudanese farming communities had no opportunities to achieve sustainable agriculture due to instability and lacked the technology to do so. Subsistence agriculture has remained inevitably unsustainable and susceptible to environmental impacts. Sustainable strategy is the main criteria for assessing, analyzing, integrating, empowering, and rehabilitating the local subsistence farming communities in the regions of Southern Sudan.
How could public participation in local decision-making foster healthy communities in subsistence farming regions of Southern Sudan?
This question is very important because it highlights the main issues affecting farming communities in regard to sustainable community strategy. Thus, local community-based participation in decision-making makes the subsistence farming system more sustainable and effective. The involvement of local citizens in ecological decision-making addresses the implementation of healthy sustainable community policies. The strategy requires good governance policies, local citizens’ involvement in decision-making processes, environmental management and ethic. In addition, these policies are instrumental strategies that encourage environmental stewardship, reductionist approaches and holistic principles. Public participation empowers local government to take proactive approaches to socio-ecological problems that deplete natural resources.
The return of the majority of refugees and Internal Displace Persons (IDPs) into the South has increased the population resulting in shortages of food. Thus, such vulnerable people can be helped only by engaging local communities in subsistence farming. Local community-based participation is the only way to sustain and increase food production; hence, decision-making fosters socio-economic responsibilities. The United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that Sudan’s "environmental degradation” will be worsen unless the Government of Sudan acts to protect environment from foreign oil companies, unsustainable agricultural practices, and climate-related changes and diseases. This report indicated that public participation and environmental education are the most important tools to reduce ecological disasters. These environmental degradations require the strength of the local subsistence farming communities and good governance approaches.
Government of Southern Sudan and Citizens should implement or consider the following strategies:
i) Good governance policies
a) Local-citizens socio-economic development
b) Participative democratic transformation
c) State-local governments’ resources efficiency
d) Special incentive for agricultural sector
e) Human resource development
f) Empowerment of local-citizens and community social responsibility
g) Imitation of sustainable development
h) Poverty-reduction strategy
i) Education and capacity-building
j) Environmental management
k) GoSS should conduct environmental impact assessment (EIA)

Conclusion Remark
In summary, subsistence farming is the basic method of providing food security to local citizens. An investment in rural-agricultural production in the regions of Southern Sudan is the most important way of producing food for the population. The GoSS needs to focus on sustainability to minimize unsustainable farming practices that affect environment. The government has a significant role in funding agriculture locally. Giving more funding to local subsistence farming communities alleviate poverty and promote citizens economic independence.
The Government of Southern Sudan must intervene and support subsistence farming communities in three ways: ensures that local government is eligible for the accountability of equal development and funding in rural agricultural production, enhances participatory democracy for local citizens to express their freedom of thoughts and opinion in referendum, establishes human resource system that empowers local citizens with knowledge and skills to manage their resources sustainably, and encourages state government to share local resources equally by strengthening citizens social responsibility.
Another intervention is by embracing local citizens’ participation in ecological decision-making process. This approach introduces citizens to participate in capacity-building and education, strengthens methods of fighting poverty in the regions, promotes imitation of sustainable development policies, and improves empowerment and social responsibility of local citizens. GoSS must also intervene through environmental management by strategizing ethical justice, environmental governance, sustainability assessment, fostering stewardship and holism approaches as well as promoting reductionism principle.

January 18, 2009 | 11:34 PM Comments  0 comments

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