SSudan Students Grow Their Own Food

Thirty South Sudanese students from two primary schools in Torit are farming to produce food to sell at local markets in the Eastern Equatoria state capital.

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TORIT — The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Swedish International Cooperation Agency has helped students at Tori One and Torit West Primary School with agricultural tools and seeds to grow their own food.

Sadiq Juma, who has four daughters enrolled at Torit West, told South Sudan in Focus the school farming activities have gone so well that he no longer worries about school fees for his children.

The work of agriculture is going well. My girls are orphans; they lost the mother and it’s only me the father available. When they start learning about agriculture and production, it was successful, and they brought some of it home, cooked it and we enjoyed the meal together, and I see this is a good activity,

 he said.

Torit West eighth grade student Sarah Mam said her school needs more vegetable seeds.

If the seeds are few, maybe we can provide it again. We have greens, and tomatoes and we have okra and also we have cowpeas and eggplant,

Mam told South Sudan in Focus.

Santonino Ujwouk, a teacher at Torit West Primary who works with students enrolled in the agricultural program, said growing vegetables at school has made a huge difference.

We dug, we planted so many vegetable crops and the yield is better, we got some money that they produced and this project is actually very helpful to the school, and as well to the community

Ujwouk told South Sudan in Focus.

Student David Oliwa, who leads the agricultural club at Torit West, told South Sudan in Focus he has learned a lot from running the club.

I am the one who calls them to go dig and do nursery beds, and I also tell them how to manage them well. I get the experience here from the school. We plant greens, eggplant, sukumawiki [kale] and carrots plus tomatoes,

Oliwa told VOA.

FAO funds the agricultural clubs through with donation from the Swedish International Cooperation Agency.