Farmers Warn Insecurity and Wild Fires Threatening Yei Coffee Revival and Exports

(YEI RIVER COUNTY) – Coffee farmers in Yei River County in Central Equatoria State are appealing to the government, opposition leaders and armed forces to prioritise dialogue and reconciliation to restore peace and stability. Farmers say security is essential for them to revive coffee farming and contribute to South Sudan’s economic recovery.

Farmers explained that ongoing insecurity and displacements since 2016 have left them unable to cultivate their coffee fields, forcing consumers and traders in South Sudan to rely heavily on imports from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Arike Taban, a coffee grower from Otogo Payam, said peace would allow families to return to their ancestral coffee farms and resume production.

“What we want is peace and security. I call on the government and our brothers in the opposition to give peace a chance so we can embark on poverty reduction programmes through coffee farming in Yei.”

Arike noted that most of his farm has been overtaken by grass and faces the risk of being destroyed by wildfires during the dry season. He added that insecurity has made it unsafe for him to visit his farmland in Kajiko:

“I am pleading with the government and opposition forces to bring us peace so that I and my family can return to our village and focus on coffee farming projects.”

Another farmer, Asu Moses from Lun village in Mugwo Payam, voiced similar concerns.

“This area is fertile for coffee farming but our biggest challenge is insecurity. We continue to call on the government and opposition to sit together and talk so there is peace and stability for coffee farmers to fight poverty in the community.”

Asu explained that with peace, he would invest in large scale coffee production to create income for his family while contributing to wider coffee revival in the county.

Gama Peter, a resident of Mugwo, stressed that conflict has destroyed livelihoods and delayed development.

“War is bad because it destroys our source of economic livelihood. It affects our ability to produce as farmers. What I want from our leaders is peace and stability so that we can focus on economic development activities.”

Yei River County Commissioner Emmanuel Taban Seme has consistently urged residents to embrace peace and reconciliation. He said peace is the foundation for socio-economic recovery and development and has repeatedly called on communities to reject violence and support dialogue at the local level.

Yei was once South Sudan’s leading coffee producing region, exporting beans to Juba, Khartoum and international markets in the 1980s.

In 2016, international organisations TechnoServe and Nespresso confirmed that coffee from Yei ranked among the finest globally, reaching markets in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States.

Since 2011, programmes supported by TechnoServe and Nespresso have trained more than 700 South Sudanese farmers, established the country’s first five coffee cooperatives and constructed wet mills. The first coffee beans exported from South Sudan were sent to France, as part of efforts to diversify an economy heavily reliant on oil.

Coffee Farming in Yei River County