Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme has convened a two-day high-level consultative workshop on food systems transformation in South Sudan. The workshop held from the 27th to the 28^th of February 2024 in Juba, the South Sudanese capital.

The high-level workshop, which was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of South Sudan, brought together, food and agriculture experts from international organisations, the private sector and research institutions including TAAT compacts on Maize, Sorghum/Millet, Rice, Livestock, Policy, Capacity Development and Technology Transfer, Water Management and Youth in Agriculture.

Speaking during the opening session, Dr Solomon Gizaw, Head of the TAAT Clearinghouse declared that “TAAT is in South Sudan to consolidate plans for extensive engagement in the implementation of agricultural technology deployment and scaling activities as well as facilitate technical assistance to the country’s National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) across several ongoing projects.”

Dr Gizaw, who was represented by Mr Ndirpaya Yarama, the TAAT East African Regional Coordinator, stated further that “this engagement will further identify and align the technology and technical assistance needs of South Sudan to ongoing projects and strategise on achieving synergy between the government, donor agencies and implementation partners.”

South Sudan has several African Development Bank-funded projects, including the South Sudan Emergency Food Production Programme (SSEFPP-1), South Sudan Country Food Security & Agricultural Delivery Compact, and the Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) Program – South Sudan.

Others include the Agricultural Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development Project (AMVAT-2); the Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response to Food Crisis (SEPAREF) project for Burundi, Comoros, Somalia, and South Sudan; and the Programme to Build Resilience for Food and Nutrition in the Horn of Africa through the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme (BREFONS).

The workshop equally comprised extensive consultations on the World Bank-funded  Resilient Agriculture Livelihood Project (RALP) for South Sudan with expected delivery timelines for deploying path-breaking maize, sorghum and groundnut value technologies, including breeder seed production and capacity building.

The two-day workshop which ended with country engagement visits to the country offices of the African Development Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), incorporated TAAT capacity development and technology outreach initiatives for the Research and Extension staff of South Sudan to enhance their output in addition to getting technical assistance on seed roadmaps, policy matters, technology delivery and adoption of climate-smart, farmer-preferred varieties and good agricultural practices.

Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)  is an African Development Bank flagship programme that represents a transformative initiative to reverse the trend of declining food productivity in Africa. TAAT’s primary objective is to introduce modern food production technologies to 40 million farmers across over 30 African countries, focusing on supporting young people and women in low-income regions. The programme operates through a Regional Food Technology Delivery Infrastructure comprising international, national, and regional research institutions, seed companies, extension service providers, and financial institutions, among other stakeholders.