In brief
Seasonal floods in Northern Bahr el Ghazal once ruined sorghum crops, but farmers now grow rice in the waterlogged land. With help from the World Food Programme and Chinese partners, 2,100 households farm 1,000 hectares of rice, though challenges like weeding and lack of machinery remain.
In the city of Aweil in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal, the 2026 flood season turned a threat into a farming opportunity. Local farmers, facing the destruction of their usual sorghum crops, are now planting rice in the flooded fields.
Rice thrives where sorghum fails. Farmers learned to use the floodwater as a natural irrigation source, turning the lowlands into rice paddies.
The 45‑year‑old farmer Santino Akech told reporters, "When flooding came, it affected sorghum, but the rice succeeded." Akech’s community now runs more than 2,100 rice‑farm households, covering about 1,000 hectares.
Haileselassie Berhanu, head of the World Food Programme Aweil office, explained that the agency has “tried to consider the flood as a potential opportunity, not as a threat.” He said the WFP began working with local groups several years ago to provide training and equipment for rice cultivation.
Farmers work in cooperatives, pooling tools and sharing lessons from local partners. This teamwork has helped expand the area under rice plants and improve yields.
In 2025, Akech harvested 42 bags of rice, each weighing 90 kg, from 1.68 hectares. The crop was growing well, he added.
However, many farmers still face problems. Weeding and harvesting are difficult without machines, and new growers need training in better cultivation methods and suitable rice varieties.
Mutinta Chimuka, the WFP country representative for South Sudan, said, "Helping communities produce their own food was an important part of the agency’s work to improve food security, alongside the distribution of food assistance." She noted the fields had retained water even during a dry spell and expected the crop to finish soon.
Chimuka urged closer cooperation with state and national officials to pick the best sites for rice and to scale up the practice.
While the rice program shows promise, expanding it will require more machinery, refined techniques, and partnership with local authorities, the WFP team said. The initiative offers a small but significant step toward better food security for South Sudan’s flood‑prone communities.
