Juba Delegation in Tanzania for Food Security Summit

(DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA) – A regional push to dismantle trade barriers and harmonise food safety rules is the focus of high level talks in Tanzania, as East African ministers gather to unlock the bloc’s farming potential.

South Sudan’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Clement Juma Mbugoniwia, arrived in Dar es Salaam on Monday at the head of a senior delegation for the 19th East African Community Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food Security.

He is joined by Undersecretary for Food Security Dr Michael Roberto Kenyi, Director for Agriculture Field Crops Production and EAC Focal Person Alfred Wani, and Deputy Director for Planning and Programming Angelo Joseph Lemor.

The team was received by Ambassador Gloria John Mambia and technical staff from South Sudan’s embassy in the Tanzanian capital.

The annual ministerial council serves as a  platform for aligning regional food systems, standardising farm inputs and tackling nutritional security challenges across the bloc.

This year’s session puts a sharp focus on deepening regional integration and boosting cross border agricultural trade.

Ministers will review policies on intra regional exports, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the elimination of non tariff barriers that continue to slow the free movement of farm produce.

The talks come days after South Sudan’s agriculture ministry announced a new tractor policy, shifting ownership of government provided machinery from individual farmers to county agriculture departments for exclusive use by cooperative groups.

The move, unveiled by Minister Mbugoniwia on SSBC’s English News Hour, is designed to widen access to equipment and strengthen cooperative farming.

Earlier in the week, the minister launched the planting season at the Aweil Rice Scheme, a project central to national efforts to raise domestic food production and reduce reliance on imports.