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Juba Turns Its Wasteland Lavatories into Farms

by Modi Bulson De Kiden
IN the midst of Su dans civil war, the besieged people of Juba have turned faeces ridden wasteground In the city Into food plots.
The greening of the capital of Equatoria state, 1,200 kilometres (748 miles) from the capital Khartoum. Is the result of efforts by the state ministries of agriculture and education and a group of non-gov ernment organisations (NGOs).
The first attempt at an environmental clean-up came almost a decade ago. when the focal Directorate of Forestry launched a tree-planting and beautification campaign.
By 1990. thousands of Juba residents had planted trees, mainly eucalyptus and neem, around their homes. But as shelling by soldiers of the rebel Southern People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was stepped up. and emergency food supplies from Kenya and Uganda became scarcer, resident* were encouraged to plant foodcrops (The SPLA is fighting for a bigger say In the central government, dominated by Muslim Arab* from the north, for the predominantly Christian and anlmist African southerners.)
The Red Cross, the British and Canadian NGO consortium Acord and several church-affiliated NGO supplied seeds and
Implements.
These Inputs helped trans form Juba's former open-air latrines into green gardens,' said one resident. They were also used to Increase agricultural output In areas around the town not under rebel control, ecompassing a radius of 15-20 kilometres (9-12 miles).
One of two Southerners In the central Government Cabinet. Father George Klnga. said after visiting Juba recently that wherever he drove his car was trespassing on people’s groundnuts, maize, beans and sorghum. 'Nearly every available space has been cultivated,' he commented This has helped hold down food prices for the city's estimated 400.000-500,000 people.
The Juba Directorate of Agriculture estimates that about 90 per cent of open spaces have been cultivated with such crops, as well as surrounding areas.
The state Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Caesar Baya, told the local Assembly that the city was producing about one-third of its basic food requirements, though this was less than the Ministry's original forecasts.
Those reaping the urban harvest are now confronted with a new problem: fending off thieves. Several suspected thieves have been shot dead by
farmers.
Much popular blame falls on the 7,000 Toposa nomads who have taken refuge in Juba and are camped tn appalling condl tions In an old boatyard Lack of food and proper sanitation led to the deaths of about 2,500 of them, according to government social worker Elly Abudraga Ramadhan.
Medical officers say the cultivation of open spaces has also cut down the number of flies. Said James Laku Want, a medical assistant at Juba Teaching Hospital: These places were breeding grounds for files and a health hazard." He believes that most diarrheal diseases in Juba were a direct result of the excreta-filled spaces
The afforestation and beau-Ufication drive has also been resurrected, which has also helped provide much-needed building poles and firewood.
But some reserves have been damaged by military ac tivities and by fires, and the Forestry Department reckons that three-quarters of the families in Juba each consume about 250 kilograms of firewood a month — which. Yupet stresses, Is 'an alarmingly rapid rate" to keep up with.
/ PANOS