Conflict and climate change form a deadly duo in South Sudan. A duo that is no stranger to the residents of Pibor County – where the effects have touched the lives of everyone. And where hunger is endemic as a result. In 2024 the EU – in partnership with DanChurchAid – offered a lifeline in the form of cash to those most affected.
People have arrived early. They have gathered under a couple of trees with a thin canopy at the bottom of a compound that is connected to the United Nation’s Peacekeeping Mission’s (UNMISS) base in Pibor Post – the main town in Pibor County. This is where the South Sudanese NGO Nile Hope operates from.
This morning Nile Hope and DanChurchAid will distribute cash to help ensure that 510 households in Pibor Post can buy food – and see them through the wet months where Pibor Post is more or less cut off from the rest of the world. The cash comes from the European Union that has funded cash distribution in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area and four other regions in South Sudan.
It’s the third time in 2024 that Nile Hope distributes cash to some of the most vulnerable members of the community in Pibor Post. Most of them are women, several elderly, and some are young and have barely graduated into adulthood.
People who have arrived at Nile Hope’s offices in Pibor Post today have all been affected by violence, climate change or both – they are often at the lowest rung of the power ladders in local society. They have seen loved ones killed, they have endured violence, and experienced critical hunger.
They carry scars – physically and mentally – from their experiences and are often sole providers for entire families.
Waiting in the sun
The crowd grows as the sun moves towards zenith – and it becomes increasingly difficult to find shade. It’s the fifth consecutive day with sun and blue sky – and whereas that means that the muddy roads outside are hardening and are easier to navigate for those who have difficulty walking, it also means that the temperatures are soaring past 40 degrees Celsius. Sweat trickles from the brows of people waiting patiently in the demarcated waiting area.
One of them is Muriel Oleyo Jork. She is 52. What she receives today is what the family depends on – and other than buying food and filling the tummies of her family, she needs to think strategically to stretch the money. This is the last distribution in 2024.
“I am going to buy food for my family and with some of the money, I will buy flour to bake mandazis that I can sell. Hopefully that way I can earn enough money to pay school fees for my children,” says Muriel.
She will sell the mandazis – balls of deep-fried, sweet bread that is a stable here and in most of East Africa – from under a tree near the market in town.
Before she got cash from the EU, she was collecting firewood in the bush that she sold in her community. She was struggling to make ends meet – and feed her children. Now she has hopes of keeping hunger at the door while sending her children to school.
“Education is the only chance for a different life for my children- a better life”Muriel Oleyo Jork (52) – cash recipient
The impact of inflation
Each recipient of cash will receive €95 per distribution. This is the last of three distributions. But the recipients will not receive EUROs – they will receive the equivalent in South Sudanese Pounds (SSP). A currency that is experiencing high levels of inflation. Today they are receiving 310,000 SSP. And everyone has a plan of converting the money into food or other investments almost immediately. It makes no sense to save money that is losing value so quick.
“You can’t buy as much as you used to for the same money,” according to Oboch Kabado.
Oboch Kabado lives in a compound with the widows of his two brothers and eight others. He is around 70 and has lived in Pibor Post for a number of years. He arrived here after fleeing his village after an attack where his wife was abducted, both of his brothers lost their lives, and all the family’s cattle was stolen.
In Pibor Post he has received food from World Food Programme once – and in 2024 he has received cash from the EU. He has spent the cash on food for family members in his compound and his brothers’ widows. In total they are 11 people benefitting. But prices of food have been going up – and you can’t buy as much as before.
“What we have been getting used to be a good amount that could take you far – but the way prices are going up the value of the money has been going down,” says Oboch Kabado.
When Oboch receives money, he also gets visits from relatives in the village – even if it’s far away.
“They somehow always get wind of it when I have money, and they will arrive in town shortly after. So I give them a little money too.”Oboch Kabado (app. 70) – Cash recipient
But Oboch realised that if he just spent or gave the money away, he would soon be out of money again, so he made a plan to grow the money.
“I decided to start a small shop to earn a little extra and stretch the money. I also get bored and don’t want to sleep all day – so now I tend to my shop and have something to do,” he explains.
The shop can fit on the seat of a blue plastic chair – and consists of lollipops and gumballs that he sells to children and others with a sweet tooth in the neighbourhood.
“It gives a small income. Before I couldn’t even afford to buy a cup of tea at the market, but once in a while, I can now afford to take tea in town.” A cup of tea at the market in town, cost 1,000 SSP (0.20 USD).
Mud and bandits keep Pibor isolated
Pibor Post is poorly connected to the outside world. There are only two roads suitable for cars going out of town. One goes straight West – it’s a dirt road that leads to the town of Bor on the banks of the Nile. The other goes north and will take you to the Ethiopian border town of Akobo.
But when the rains set in the roads become virtually impassable – and no goods or people can move in and out of Pibor Post by road. This is increasingly an issue as rains have intensified in later years – and Pibor Post is cut off for longer periods of time.
During the dry season a heavy-duty truck can bring deliveries to Pibor Post – but many fall prey to bandits on the road, who attack and rob them.
Sourcing locally
Because of the isolation of Pibor most people source what they can from their surroundings – including firewood. This is, however, not without risk – especially if you are a woman.
The dangers of collecting firewood go beyond splinters and wild animals – there’s a risk of meeting people with ill intentions when you are away from the relative safety of the town, and you are alone in the bush.
Kongkong Koruo knows this.
Kongkong Koruo is in her late twenties – she is not sure exactly how old she is. She has been waiting patiently in the shade of a tree since before 8 AM. She has her son strapped on her back. She is registered by Nile Hope and has received cash before – so she didn’t have to come early. But she has learned to take nothing for granted. Not least the goodness of others. And she has learned the hard way.
Kongkong used to collect firewood and sell in the community. The proceeds were minuscule – but it was all she had.
One day going into the bush she was attacked by a group of men. She is not sure who or how many they were because she was knocked unconscious. When she came around, the firewood was gone, and she was lying on the ground in pain – she had received a severe beating.
“The money I receive today will feed me and my family. And it will go towards my medical bills,” says Kongkong quietly. She still suffers medical implications from the attack. When the money runs out, she will not go back to collecting firewood again.
That she knows.
Gender-Based Violence is common in Pibor County. Whereas conflicts between the communities mostly involve men, women are the – often silent – victims who endure various types of abuse. Often on the daily.
Teenager and head of the household
Yayo Baba is 15 years old. She sits on the grass, directly in the sun, at the Nile Hope compound with a group of age mates. They are waiting patiently while others, who are older, are starting to scramble to get to the front of the line.
Even if Yayo is only 15 years old, she is the head of her household – and it is in support of her household that she has come to the cash distribution.
Yayo’s father left the family in 2020 to go to Juba and left eight children in the care of their mother. In 2022 the mother passed away – and her father sent for Yayo’s brothers to come to Juba. Yayo and her three sisters moved in with the grandmother – and Yayo had to drop out of school to provide for them.
Yayo has very few ways of providing for them all. They grow what they can on the small plot of land where they live – and occasionally Yayo goes to the bush to collect firewood to sell.
They hardly ever hear from the father, and he hasn’t contributed anything to their upkeep. But somehow, he found out that Yayo has been receiving cash this year.
“My father says I am responsible for paying my brothers’ school fees,” Yayo explains.
“My father says it is my responsibility to send money for school fees for my brothers in Juba. So, when I get the money, I will send some of it to him,” Yayo explains.
With the rest of the money Yayo will ensure that – at least for a while – her sisters and grandmother can eat twice per day. And perhaps she will start a small business if there’s spare money.
“I can bake bread or make mandazis to sell,” she says.
Village life awaits
Yayo’s father is unemployed, so he – and her brothers – depend on her. Other than asking her to send money he has promised her to a man in his ancestral village. She doesn’t know him.
The man has not claimed her yet – but she is already 15 years old so it could happen any moment. When the man does call for her she will have to move to the village and live with him.
I don’t know anything about village life, so I am not sure what it will be likeYayo Baba (15) on marrying and moving to the village
For Yayo’s father the union between his daughter and the man in the village will – once sealed – mean a payment of a brideprice that can keep her brothers in school and put food on the table for the men in Juba.
As far as Yayo is concerned one can only speculate what the future holds.
“I just hope for a better life. And if possible, I’d like to go back to school,” she says quietly – seemingly uncertain of how to put into words what she wants.
Yayo may be moving out of Pibor Post and to a village shortly – but for many the journey has gone the other way. They have left their villages to come to Pibor Post – and most often not voluntarily.
Violence between communities leave pastoralists robbed of their cattle, men dead, and children abducted. As a consequence many flee for their lives with only the clothes on their backs – and reach Pibor Post with nothing but trauma.
Farming and pastoralism under threat
People in the Pibor County have traditionally earned a living as farmers or by keeping cattle (pastoralism). Agriculture has been affected by climate change and so have the pastoralists – but in addition, pastoralists have been affected by a militarisation of their traditions during decades of war and conflict in South Sudan.
Cattle raids into neighbouring communities have taken place for as long as anyone can remember, but mostly with minimum bloodshed. With the access to AK47s and military training these raids have turned into clashes more akin to modern-day warfare with scores of people killed, abductions, and sexual and gender-based violence.
Escaping violence in the village
Lekuang Boyoi had fled her village after when she arrived in Pibor Post. Her village is in the nearby Gumuruk County – and she, her husband, and children fled when they were attacked by a neighbouring community.
“Things are better here. I have received support since we arrived – for food, to go to the clinic, and to send the children to school,” Lekuang Boyoi sums up life in Pibor Post after coming from the village.
“Many people were killed around us – and children were abducted too,” says Lekuang.
Like many attacks this was a retaliation for a previous attack that was a retaliation for one before that and so on. The cycle of violence is seemingly endless and has become woven into the fabric of inter-communal dynamics.
“Killings happened on both sides. Youths from our community also went to our neighbours to raid cattle and to kill. But what can we do as women? We don’t know about these things and have no say.”Lekuang Boyoi (app. 38) – Cash recipient
Lekuang has been in Pibor Post for four years – in which period she was widowed and she’s now alone with eight children.
Even if Lekuang doesn’t have much, she still thinks that life has improved after arriving in Pibor Post.
“Life is better here in Pibor. It’s more secure and I have received support since I arrived here. I have been given food to eat, I get support for me and my children to go to the clinic, and the children can go to school,” she says.
She grows crops on a small piece of land and with the cash she receives she can ensure sufficient food for the family for months – and pay school fees for another year for three of her children.
She is also planning to buy flour to make mandazis – she intends to sell them in town next to one of the tea shops. Her long-term plan is to put money aside so she can open her own tea place with mandazis next to the airstrip in Pibor Post – a short walk from her house.
If her plan works out, her main hope is that she can give her children a better future.
About the intervention
Conflict has touched almost every corner of South Sudan and has led to displacement and hunger – and continues to do so. Now climatic changes are worsening the situation – and 75% of the South Sudanese population needs humanitarian aid.
With support from the EU, a consortium led by DanChurchAid in partnership with ChristianAid, Nile Hope, Africa Development Aid (ADA) and Universal Intervention and Development Organization (UNIDOR) has been providing life-saving support through the provision of cash and access to case management for survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
In total 26,265 individuals are targeted in Ulang, Fashoda, Ayod, Leer, and Pibor Administrative Area – regions identified for their acute needs stemming from extreme food insecurity (IPC 4+), flooding, conflict, and returnee influxes.
The intervention combines multipurpose cash transfers (MPCT) with targeted protection initiatives to deliver life-saving support while upholding the dignity and agency of affected populations. MPCT addresses urgent food security and basic needs, benefiting 20,802 individuals, while complementary protection activities focus on gender-based violence (GBV) and child protection, reaching 10,098 people.
Read more: Saving Lives and Enhancing Food Security
