Jacob Sebitha (45) and Lina Akara (45) are farmers in Chukudum; the county capital of Budi County in Eastern Equatoria in South Sudan. Like many others here their stories are shaped by the same forces: war, conflict, and cattle raiding all of which are intrinsically connected to violence. These forces pushed scores of people out of their homes in search for safety during the civil war – many found it up in the Didinga mountains surrounding Chukudum.
Then conflict sent them down the hills again and into Chukudum.
Twenty years in the mountains – Jacob’s story
“People were being killed, and I was afraid of being killed myself. We were all afraid for our lives,” says Jacob recounting the time leading up to the decision to leave everything behind and head for the mountains for safety.
That was around the year 2000 during the Second Sudanese Civil War – which continued for another five years before a peace agreement was reached in 2005. And it was 11 years before South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011 – and the civil war formally came to an end.
Jacob left the family land in Chukudum – and did not return for 20 years. In the mountains he build a life herding cattle. But whereas the mountains offered shelter against the larger dynamics of a nationwide civil war – conflict among the communities persisted. And as a side-effect of decades of war many young men in the communities had received military training and been in combat – and had easy access to weapons.
Cattle raids and disputes over land have been happening for as long as anyone can remember – but in recent decades they are looking more and more like modern day battles. Whereas a delicate balance was being upheld before by leaders on all sides to ensure a minimum of bloodshed – raids are now often bloody with many casualties.
And as a cattle herder Jacob was an obvious target for cattle raids.
“When they came they took all my cows except one. If they found me with cattle, they would kill me,” says Jacob. One hundred and forty cows were stolen. His livelihood robbed from him. But he was lucky to survive – around Jacob people were being killed. The final straw for Jacob was watching an uncle get shot. “I saw with my own eyes that they shot people. I saw my father’s brother being shot and killed.”
Shortly afterwards, Jacob left his mountain home and headed for the safety of a town, Chukudum. He returned to the family land – and found no-one had settled here. And Jacob started building a new life – again.
“I had to start completely over. I went back to Chukudum and found the land we had left 20 years earlier. It was untouched. So I started digging the land,” says Jacob.
Widowed and on the run – Lina’s story
Lina used to live in the Didinga mountains with her husband – but when she was widowed things became difficult. Lina didn’t know how to support the family. So she began working in a gold mine to earn money for the upkeep of the family. But soon mines became entangled in the conflicts with neighbouring communities – what started as cattle raids evolved into raids for resources. And for revenge.
“They came from another county,” Lina recalls. “Because of the conflict over stolen cattle, they just started shooting people. One morning they came very early and they shot people while they were sleeping. They burned the houses – some with people inside.”
While Lina was working in the mines, her own house was burned down. “When I came back, everything was gone,” she says. The entire area was destroyed. She lost everything.
Although she did not own cattle, she didn’t feel safe. “Even if you didn’t have cows, they could still shoot you,” she says. So she took her children and fled.
After fleeing, Lina moved from place to place, staying with others. She collected firewood and worked in other people’s fields for food.
Eventually she settled in Chukudum – and this is where she still lives with her son and her two grandchildren, Angelika (5), and Natalena (2).
“Even if you didn’t have cows, they could still shoot you,” says Lina about the violence she experienced before leaving the mountains.
Settling in Chukudum – and starting over
Both Jacob and Lina returned to Chukudum after a government of national unity was formed in South Sudan in 2020 – two years after a peace agreement had been signed aiming to put an end to nation-wide fighting that started in 2013.
For Jacob and Lina – and many others escaping inter-communal conflict – Chukudum offered safety in numbers. Here they could start over.
Since then they have been eking out an existence as farmers in a community where conflict isn’t as dominant as before – even if it still occasionally flares up – but where another force has started to shape their lives; a changing climate.
Inefficient faming methods hamper progress
Whereas farming is fairly common in Chukudum in the 2020s, people living here are pastoralists – and have traditionally only done farming as a necessity. This means that a lot of farming done here is done by very simple methods and is not ideal for securing the best yield or for protecting the environment.
Farmers have traditionally cleared land by the slash-and-burn method which kills nutrients and causes soil degradation. And when planting most farmers use a method called ‘broadcast seeding’ – where the farmer simply takes handfuls of seeds and throws them on the ground.
This way many seeds dry out before sprouting and many of those that do sprout will be stepped on when the farmer weeds. In the end broadcast seeding gives a significantly lower yield than seeds planted in rows.
Inefficient farming methods combined with unpredictable weather has therefore made farming tricky to rely on for the sustenance of a family.
Jacob builds a life in Chukudum – but not without challenges
Jacob and his wife have nine children, aged between five and twenty. To survive, they initially collected firewood and sold it when they arrived in Chukudum. And with a minuscule income the challenges continued for Jacob and his family.
Jacob got help from the surrounding community to get farming going on the land but unpredictable rainfall and periods of drought have destroyed many crops. And at times, the family would eat only one meal a day.
“Sometimes there is too much rain, sometimes there is drought. The crops die,” says Jacob. But he kept building the farm – because there were no alternatives. He had to keep going in the hope that some how, some way, he could turn things around.
Lina struggling to make ends meet
For Lina settling in Chukudum also wasn’t easy – being a widow and with no land of her own the odds were stacked against her. And feeling the burden of falling short of looking after her children and grandchildren weighs heavily on her.
Linda mentions that her daughter lives in a nearby village and when she came to ask for help ahead of giving birth, Lina had nothing to offer.
“I had nothing,” she says quietly.
New skills and new knowledge bring new hope
Then, in 2024, both Lina and Jacob got the opportunity to receive training in agricultural methods.
Just over a year – and several trainings – later they are starting to see the fruits of the new agricultural methods they have learned. Methods that have been developed to create resilient and biodiverse food systems – collective known as agroecology. The trainings are carried out by the South Sudanese NGO Root of Generations (RoG) as part of the DCA-led SPREAD project.
And with the knowledge they get from the training they have begun rebuilding a life through farming – not as a return to what was lost, but as a way of creating stability in a community marked by the long aftermath of conflict and ongoing climate challenges.
More crops and a better life for Jacob’s children
Jacob now grows far more crops than before. Previously, he cultivated only sugarcane and maize. Today, he grows okra, groundnuts, eggplant, cassava, sweet potatoes, spinach, and kale. “A lot has changed,” he says. “I can cultivate many crops now.”
Access to seeds remains his biggest challenge. Still, income from farming has made it possible to gradually pay school fees. “I did not go to school myself,” Jacob says. “I want my children to have a better life than me.”
Today, Jacob says he feels a basic sense of safety. “I can leave my family without fear. I don’t worry about their safety,” he says. In the longer term, he hopes to own cattle again.
“I can leave my family without fear,” says Jacob.
“The training has given me joy,” says Lina.
More crops ensure food on the table at Lina’s house
“The training has given me joy,” Lina says. “It has given me knowledge, and it makes me happy to see the results.” Previously, she cultivated only sorghum, which was often destroyed by pests. “If we have only one crop, we could starve,” she says.
Today, she grows several crops: cassava, cowpeas, hibiscus, okra, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, and pumpkins.
For Lina, the grandchildren at her house represent hope. “I believe they can have a better life than me,” she says. She hopes to save enough money for the oldest child to start school. “School is very important,” she says. “It opens people’s eyes and develops the family.”
A better future is a result of gradual change
Today, Jacob and Lina live side by side in Chukudum. They do not share the same personal history, but they share the experience of having lost everything and having to start again. Both continue to live with the consequences of conflict, displacement, and climate change.
The agricultural training has not removed uncertainty entirely. But it has given them new tools to work the land and create a degree of stability in everyday life. For Jacob, this means providing for his children and sending them to school. For Lina, it means feeding her family and offering the next generation an opportunity she herself did not have.
Life in Chukudum is shaped by gradual change rather than dramatic turning points – small harvests, new crops, and slow improvements in daily life.
About SPREAD
Strengthening integrated Peace, REsilience, And Disaster Risk Reduction for cross-border communities in the border region of South Omo/Ethiopia, Turkana/Kenya and Eastern Equatoria/South Sudan‘ is an EU-funded project designed to prevent and mitigate conflicts, reduce and manage the risks associated with natural disasters, and build resilience within cross-border communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.
- Timeframe: 01.02 2024 – 31.01.2027
- Budget: €16 million
- Donors: European Union (€14M), DANIDA
- People targeted: 80,0000
- Location: South Omo (Ethiopia), Turkana (Kenya), Eastern Equatoria (South Sudan)
