Farmer Interview: Awein Akol Akol
Awien Akol Akol, Farmer, Majok Goi, Gar Village
Now that we’ve finished the first harvest of our 25-acre flood-resistant farm in Majok Goi we wanted to interview a few of the farmers to understand their experience over the last year. Read the transcript (translated from Dinka to English) of our project director Luka Garang’s interview with Awien Akol Akol.
Luka: Tell me about yourself
Aguil: My name is Awien Akol Akol from Gar village. I have 4 children (3 boys and 1 girl) and I am 25 years old.
Luka: What is the impact of this farm to you and community of Majok Goi as well?
Aguil: Well, the farming bring a lot of changes in life in term of help and what I got since the project started. To me with my understanding, this project is number one in Aweil South County because it helps many people who were wondered in community with what they can eat with their families! But when the project comes up here they got relieved and gain hope in life and for all these developments I appreciate GEMS for the project and if not this GEMS we cannot survive last year 2020.
Luka: Thank you!
Thank you for your support! Without your donations, we couldn’t have made it possible for Awien to feed her family during 2020. Donate below to keep families like Awien fed during the hunger gab and learning how to improve their crops each year!
South Sudan has several factors contributing to unreliable food availability:
1.) The longest-running civil war in history ended only recently in South Sudan, meaning that generations were preoccupied with the fight for survival and not learning and passing on farming techniques. The generational knowledge that so many farmers have was lost.
2.) The region is wracked by extreme climate: periods of draught are followed by months of torrential rain...meaning any planted seeds will be washed away and/or scorched.
3.) This has meant that there is only one harvest per year, leading to a time period after the stores of grain run out known as “The Hunger Gap” -- the time each year where there’s just no food.
Here’s where you come in.
When you donate to sponsor a farmer, you help support the training and resources that the eager local villagers need in order to learn new farming techniques. This will result in two harvests per year, ending those months of starvation for families in this region.
Your donation will not only help support the training of the farmers, but will also help support a system of irrigation and dikes, which make that second harvest possible in a region with weather extremes like South Sudan.
Having a stable food supply is a critical step towards financial and political stability in this fragile region. Your donation makes a world of difference.