Writer: Mogga Charles Guya
I call upon the government of the Republic of South Sudan, humanitarian organisations, development partners, communities, and other stakeholders to urgently adopt practical and sustainable measures to address the increasing threat of drought, which continues to affect livelihoods, food security, livestock, agriculture, and economic activities in different parts of the country.
Drought mitigation should be treated as a national priority, moving beyond emergency response toward long-term preparedness, prevention, and resilience. Government and humanitarian stakeholders should work together to ensure that vulnerable communities are better prepared before drought reaches crisis levels.
Key measures and solutions should include:
Strengthen early-warning systems.
Establish reliable systems for monitoring rainfall, water availability, crop conditions, livestock conditions, and weather patterns, with timely information reaching communities before disasters occur.
Improve access to water.
Invest in boreholes, water harvesting systems, dams, water pans, reservoirs, and rehabilitation of existing water points for both human consumption and livestock.
Promote climate-resilient agriculture.
Support farmers with drought-resistant seeds, appropriate farming technologies, irrigation, extension services, storage facilities, and agricultural training.
Support livestock and pastoral communities.
Establish strategic water points, livestock vaccination programs, veterinary services, animal feed reserves, and organised livestock movement routes to reduce losses during prolonged drought.
Strengthen food security programs.
Humanitarian and government agencies should maintain strategic food reserves and provide targeted assistance to the most vulnerable households while supporting communities to restore their livelihoods.
Promote water harvesting and conservation.
Communities should be supported to harvest and store rainwater and adopt sustainable methods of conserving water and soil.
Invest in environmental protection.
Address deforestation, uncontrolled charcoal burning, land degradation, and other practices that increase communities’ vulnerability to climate change. Tree planting and restoration of degraded land should become part of national resilience programs.
Create community-based drought response committees.
Local communities, traditional leaders, women’s groups, youth, farmers, pastoralists, and local authorities should participate directly in planning and implementing drought preparedness and response measures.
Strengthen humanitarian coordination.
Government and humanitarian partners should coordinate resources, assessments, and interventions to avoid duplication and ensure that assistance reaches communities most affected by drought.
Develop a long-term national climate resilience strategy.
South Sudan needs sustained investment in irrigation, water infrastructure, agriculture, livestock, roads, markets, health services, and disaster preparedness so that communities can withstand recurring climate-related shocks.
A Call for Collective Responsibility
Drought is not only an environmental challenge; it is a threat to livelihoods, food security, public health, economic stability, and national development. We therefore call for a coordinated national approach in which government, humanitarian organisations, development partners, the private sector, civil society, and communities work together to prevent drought from becoming a humanitarian catastrophe.
South Sudan must prepare today to protect its people tomorrow. Building resilience is not an option; it is a national responsibility.
About the author
Hon. Mogga Charles Guya
Secretary for Foreign Affairs
SSNMC – Juba