GoSS agriculture minister arrived today from Western Equatoria State where she went to study how to raise food production in South Sudan to meet internal needs and for export.
Anne Itto told the press at the airport that South Sudan could boost its production from 600 thousand metric tons of food to about two million by 2013 if the average farm size increased from a currently half a fedan to at least five fedan.She added that bigger farms would enable South Sudan to feed itself and export food to the neighbouring countries.
Dr. Itto said Western Equatoria could produce one million metric tons of food per year, especially maize and rice.
She urged NGOs and state governments to work together to increase food security in South Sudan by raising production.
Western Equatoria agricultural production was seriously hampered by the attacks of Ugandan rebels that brought insecurity to the area, forcing farmers to abandon their fields and move to big centres for protection.