Married mother of seven Anok Angok Kon (45) has lived in her village in Aweil west county in South Sudan her whole life.

However, over the years she has noticed a change in the weather, which has made it more and more difficult for farmers like her to grow enough food to eat.

“Before the climate changed, it used to rain in April and May. We would plant our crops then and do our harvesting in September to October. But now, the rain is starting in June, so we can’t harvest till October/November,” Anok said.

Her home village in Northern Bahr El Ghazal state is in the far northwest of South Sudan.

Anok has a small plot of land next to her home which she uses to grow crops to support her family, but, like many farmers across the country, she has felt the effects of a worsening climate crisis.

Rainfall patterns

Anok explained that the shift in rainfall patterns not only delays the harvest, but also threatens the crops’ very survival.

When staff from Irish aid agency Christian Aid Ireland met with Anok during a visit this summer, the rainy season was under way and sections of her village had already started to flood.

“If rain like this happens once a week, it will be fine, but if it occurs several times, it will destroy our crops,” Anok said.

With its flat geography, South Sudan is plagued by regular widespread flooding, which wipes out crops, homes and livelihoods - and right now is bracing itself for what could be one of the worst flooding seasons in the last 100 years, with over 3.3 million people living in areas likely to be affected.

Anok’s village is also in a low-lying area, leaving it particularly vulnerable. Flooding also brings a myriad of health risks.

“During the flooding season, many women and children here suffer from malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea.

"The continuous flooding over the past three years has led to the destruction of harvests, leaving many farmers unable to provide for their families,” Anok said.    

“The floods devastated vast areas of farmland last year, which made cultivation impossible for us. The situation has pushed communities to their limits, with hunger becoming a prevalent issue,” she added.

Christian Aid’s local partner Smile Again Africa Development Organisation (SAADO) has been supporting local communities to protect themselves against the worst of the flooding.

With funding from Irish Aid, SAADO supported local communities to build dykes as flood defences to protect their homes and their farmland. So far, the local partner has helped communities across Aweil build and carry out maintenance work on eight dykes, including building two new dykes in Anok’s village.

Anok said that this is the first year that flood defences are in place before the rainy season commenced. However, Anok is still fearful of what lies ahead.

Flooding

“I have been a victim of flooding. It impacted my home and my farm. I don’t know what will happen this year during the rainy season and whether the dykes that have been constructed will help us,” Anok said.  

Another of Christian Aid’s Irish Aid funded partners - Coalition for Humanity - is also supporting communities in the area to adapt to climate change by providing farmers with training in climate-resilient farming methods including water-saving irrigation, mulching in order to maintain moisture and improve the condition of the soil, as well as encouraging people to grow a mix of different crops. 

Anok said since receiving the training, tools and seeds, she said that it has made a real difference to her and her family.

“We used to go and collect leaves from the wild trees to eat, but now we aren’t collecting them anymore because we are benefiting from growing vegetables,” Anok said.

When Christian Aid Ireland met with Anok, South Sudan was in the throes of its lean season. This is the period between the planting of crops and the next harvest, with people left relying on their dwindling food stocks to survive.

Staggeringly, over seven million people - more than half the population of South Sudan - do not have enough food to eat. In Anok’s home state, 425,000 people are just one step away from famine.

“There is not enough food,” Anok explained.

Despite the challenges that Anok faces on her farm, she is determined to succeed.

“I work hard for two reasons. One - to put something on the table for my family to eat - and two - to earn enough money to pay the fees to keep my children in school. If I get a good harvest, this is what I am going to do.”

Chief executive of Christian Aid Ireland Rosamond Bennett met Anok in South Sudan.

She said: “Anok’s story really brings home how people living in the world’s poorest countries are suffering the worst impacts of a climate crisis they are least responsible for creating.

"It also shows clearly the significant difference that funding can make to countries and communities in adapting to and better coping with its devastating impacts.”

To support Christian Aid’s work, please visit https://caid.ie/Preparedness.