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EMMA of the Livestock Off-take and Sorghum Market Systems

Leer County, Unity State
January, 2015

In December 2013, conflict along tribal lines started in Juba, the capital of South Sudan and soon spread to six of the country's ten states. Unity State's Leer County was badly affected by active conflict at the beginning of 2014. Many people lost their lives while livelihoods were devastated, as homes, businesses, public amenities such as hospitals and NGO premises were completely stripped of assets, with many temporary buildings razed to the ground. The town of Leer once served as the center of trade for a population of approximately 105,000 (in Leer County) as well as various adjoining areas of neighboring states. It is now a shadow of its former self, with the large traders having fled and the main trade routes blocked by active conflict and localized flooding.

In order to better understand these disruptions and to determine areas where immediate assistance is needed, Mercy Corps conducted two EMMAs in Leer and Abienmhom Counties in Unity State, focused on the livestock, sorghum, and sheep and goat markets, which traditionally provide a means of survival for vulnerable households. This report presents the findings of the EMMA in Leer County. The aim of the EMMA was to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action so as to ensure people’s survival, protect their food security and livelihoods and to help agencies avoid doing harm by avoiding interventions that could potentially distort markets and hinder recovery.

The EMMA found that before the crisis, the majority of households in Leer met most of their needs for meat and cereals through market purchase. These market purchases were paid for, mostly using cash as a means of exchange, by income from livestock off-take, milk sales, and sale of natural materials, fishing, charcoal, brewing and tea making. The area is routinely cereal deficient for a variety of reasons, including poor seed stock, labor shortages, very limited mechanization or use of draft power and heavy soils, which limit the area of land that can be tilled.

The crisis disrupted agricultural activities this year, contributing to an especially poor sorghum crop. Meanwhile, while sorghum distributions in the early part of the crisis played a critical role in supplying staple food and keeping food prices down, there is a risk that prolonged, extensive distribution may create disincentives, particularly for local sorghum producers. Many of the roads used for trade routes are closed due to active conflict and insecurity, as well as localized flooding due to late rains. This has limited the availability of goods in the market and depressed livestock prices since livestock cannot be moved to traditional distant end markets, and are over-supplying local markets where purchasing power is already reduced. River trade routes remain severely constricted for all goods, but particularly for livestock and commodities with low value per unit of bulk. Small craft are still able to use river routes informally - at some risk. This means they tend to carry goods with a high value per unit of bulk such as sugar, clothing, and sandals rather than livestock. Large wholesalers with their own transport and a large commercial network have withdrawn from Leer, leaving a vacuum.

This report presents a number of response options designed to support the food security of households in Leer County. Depending on how the conflict evolves over the next few months, it recommends one or more of the following options: direct support to conflict-affected households to access key food items and assets and to diversify income sources; support to a variety of market actors to restore market function and possibly strengthen market systems, including support services; and support to farmers to increase agricultural production.

Report authors: 
Mohamed Ali, Carol Ward
Download Report (2.4 MB pdf)