Land grabbing Risks Undermining the Central Government Efforts to Fight Poverty and Hunger in South Sudan
How lack of land exacerbates hardship for the impoverish villagers and hungry population in 28 States?
By Ring Mayar, Canberra, Australia
April 9, 2016 (SSB) —- In South Sudan, the basic tenant of the land is viewed as a vital resource for food security. However, over the past few months, many villages across the 28 states in the country have had their land chosen for the new government capital city location without thorough consultation. Regardless of these communities’ concerns, their livelihood, homes, livestock, and farm land can be seized back by breaking down the perimeter wall of the new capital city location.
For the 28 States governors to acquire land without consultation before the land owners, will certainly dismantle the state government legitimacy in the state. Since the 28 states came to effect, the use of land unilaterally by the new 28 states government officials has increased – and many cases of land grabbing has spiralled as well beyond the purposes for which these new 28 states were created. Just before the creation of the 28 states, communities in Aweil and Renk complained of their land being confiscated by powerful individuals in government. This practice of land grabbing will create perverse attitudes that will lead to aggressive behaviours by villagers.
Since independence on July 9th, 2011, the capital city of Juba has suffered or became a driver for these perverse practices by which the indigenous land owners work against family members in order to take advantage of dubious land dealing, including powerful elements in the government, the practice was daubed as “land Grab Saga in Juba”. Amidst media and public controversy around the practice, the land grab saga in Juba saw a high official in central government intervening to curtail the practice. While the new central government policy seems to work it has failed to block opportunists from exploiting villagers in the 28 states.
Today, I strongly urge the newly appointed lawmakers across 28 states in the Republic of South Sudan to start work immediately on a bipartisan basis to pass state laws that achieve maximum protection for local population in the country. This should provide a window of opportunity for lawmakers to formulate just and adequate law which will serve every citizen fairly. Failure to having land laws will lead to innocent villagers across the Republic of South Sudan will continue to face land grab. Particularly now as peace is prevailing again. There will be a golden opportunity and rush from South Sudanese’s diaspora to redeem or buy every inch of land in urban as well as rural in areas across 28 state. Many will acquire land without ever having to go through legal process in the country – further rendering local residents poorer and without land to grow food for their families.
In Ethiopia, for example, some foreign companies are using paradoxical corrupt practices to buy as well as using state security agencies to acquire land from farming communities forcibly in Aroma region. Most food produced in the Ethiopian highland is shipped back to the foreign investor’s home countries or sold on the international markets with hard currency. While Ethiopia is a country independent on international food aid. This situation explains hypocrisy and an exploitation practice, where Ethiopia’s land is capable to produce food for international markets, but are dependent on the international community to feed its population. This is a paradoxical situation which South Sudan must avoid by all costs in the future.
Globally, the fertile lands are shrinking fast and the world has started to experience a levelling off agricultural yields. This is a worrying trend for many nations to maintain their own sufficient food supply. Some of the richest and powerful countries around the world are acquiring large tracks of land from some of the very poorest countries in the world. Arable land suitable for cultivation is becoming a scarce commodity and countries are finding it increasingly difficult to produce enough food to feed their own population.
The world’s dessert region and yet, rich in petrodollar are scrambling in a global competition to achieve food security by buying land abroad. International Corporations and governments are leasing some of the last remaining area of undeveloped farm land in the world. Their aims is to introduce intensive farming methods and export the food back to their home countries. The problems with these foreign investments relate to the lack of sufficient transparency and monitoring mechanism from the host country. Furthermore, the local community will not benefits from the green revolution and food production in their country.
These foreign investment deals are controversial and sometimes shrouded in secrecy. According to world food equity report, Chinese investors are negotiating land deals throughout Africa, as well as with Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Brazil. Saudi Arabia firms have leased farm land in Sudan and with further interest to lease land from South Sudan. British investment companies are reported to be raising billions of dollars to buy farm land in South Sudan, Angola, Malawi and Ukraine.
The targeted countries for these foreign investors are in Africa’s fragile nations, where laws for land and management are weak, sometime with non-existent land law at all. These countries are already struggling to feed their own population. Making matters worse, the local people are the least able to shoulder the cost of food in the local and international markets…
In Conclusion
I hope with the following excerpt the 28 states governors will take considerable action to curb this land grabbing. Policymakers have a duty to formulate how to reduce and protect vulnerable communities, impoverished villagers, and enact laws that gives indigenous people the right over their farming land. While foreign land investment is urgently needed, central government can do surmountable work to protect South Sudan citizens, providing them with cheap land and a free charge for s financial struggling families with minimum legal provision. Every South Sudanese should be given the right to own land, work and live anywhere across the 28 states.
Ring Mayar is the National Security Policy Student at Australian National University. His studies include Policing, Criminal Justice, Policy Development, National and global Security. He published; Academic and Journalists Can Change The Country and A Critical Balancing Act For Kiir and Machar. He can reached via the following email: naydiet@yahoo.com.au
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