Cattle raids, LRA attacks threaten stability; drilling contaminates food sources

Figure 1. Areas of concern in southern Sudan. FULL-SIZE IMAGE Source: FEWS NET

Intertribal cattle conflicts between households in the Pastoral, Hills and Mountains and Eastern Flood Plains livelihood zones (Figure 1) have escalated in recent months, resulting in human deaths and the looting of large numbers of livestock. These conflicts have also disrupted cultivation, as the latest raids were carried out while people were working in their fields, causing hesitancy among some farmers to return to their land. These raids, as well as attacks by Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), have compromised the livelihoods and food security of many people in southern Sudan. Accelerated disarmament of remaining armed groups, especially in the Pastoral and Hills and Mountains livelihoods zones, is critical to peace and stability in these areas.

The latest cattle raids left 54 people dead, mostly women and children, and an estimated 800 cattle looted. These attacks, as well as clashes between Murle pastoralists and Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) security forces in May and June, highlight the need for immediate disarmament efforts in these areas. If such raids continue, they have the potential to severely disrupt ongoing peace and security initiatives among pastoral groups, limit local trade and exchange mechanisms and inhibit the movement of households (e.g. migration to and from dry-season grazing areas or in search of labor opportunities). Disarmament would improve security in these zones, promote sharing of grazing and water sources that are essential for livestock (the main source of food in these areas) and improve important trade mechanisms between pastoral and agro-pastoral groups. Extensive disarmament campaigns were conducted in other parts of southern Sudan last year, but they did not include pastoralist groups.

In addition, attacks by the LRA and other armed groups persist, as peace negotiations between the LRA and the Ugandan Government continue in Juba. The latest attacks resulted in the abduction of four people and revived fears of LRA raids in Magwi and Torit Counties, areas experiencing these types of attacks – which have caused people to desert their villages and abandon productive land, disrupted cross-border trade and limited humanitarian access — since 1994. Recent LRA attacks in Yambio, Maridi and Tambura have reduced hunting and honey collection and disrupted cultivation of farmland, decreasing access to important food and income sources. Successful peace negotiations between the LRA and the Ugandan government, as well as disarmament of other armed groups in southern Sudan, therefore hold the key to improved food security and post-war recovery in affected areas.

Environmental concerns over contaminated water from oil drilling activities are also emerging, particularly in the northern parts of Unity State, and complaints about the negative impact of oil contamination on human, animal and plant health are increasing. Exposure to oil contaminants and associated chemical waste poses several risks to animal and human health, including: skin and eye irritation, chemically-induced pneumonia, headaches and mental disturbances and chronic lung disease. It is feared that continued exposure to these contaminants could result in livestock deaths, as well as contamination or death of fish and edible water plants – three significant contributors to the local food basket in these areas. As of early June, no national or international agency had assessed the negative impacts of the oil contamination on human and livestock health in the area.

Meanwhile, the households affected by the May to August hunger season are coping well through a combination of consuming stored grain, as well as grain purchased through the sale of labor and livestock and other food products. This grain is supplemented by food aid and local subsidized grain sales. In addition, anticipated abnormally high population influxes from north to south Sudan have not occurred, and the April to July agricultural season in the Hills and Mountains Livelihood Zone has become fully established, though close monitoring of the impact of the typical June to July dry spell on crops in these areas is critical.