South Sudan
- Population: 11.1 million
- People in Need: 5.9 million
- People Facing Hunger: 2.7 million
Our Impact
- People Helped Last Year: 1,437,365
- Our Team: 279 employees
- Program Start: 1985
For One Mother, This Crop Changed Everything
When floods swept through Adior Akol Deng’s village in Old Fangak, she struggled to find enough to feed her seven children. As a survivor of South Sudan’s 1998 famine, she feared that her children would meet the same fate. Desperate for support, 28-year-old Adior frantically looked for ways to save herself and her family.
“I used to not have enough food for the household,” she said. “I used to stay at home with the children since there was no money to pay for their school fees, school uniforms, or exercise books for school.”
In northwestern South Sudan, where Adior lives, flooding has inundated entire communities. Adior farms sorghum, which is a nutrient-rich cereal grain used for both human consumption and animal fodder. Flooding destroyed her crops. Flooding has become more frequent and more severe.
In 2022, Action Against Hunger came to Old Fangak, South Sudan to respond to the region’s flooding crisis.
Adior is no stranger to hunger. Adior has weathered many storms. She was born in 1996, on the verge of one of South Sudan’s worst humanitarian disasters. A two-year drought and lack of international aid set off the “Great Famine of 1998,” which killed over 70,000 people.
Childhood was never easy for Adior. She prayed that her future children would not face the same fate. “The Great Famine took the lives of my family members,” she said. “I still have a broken heart from the people we lost then.”
Adior grew up without any clothes or shoes to wear. Her remaining family survived the famine by eating unripe sorghum between days of empty plates. With no money or resources, Adior was unable to fulfill her dreams of going to school. But despite the unimaginable hardships, she learned farming practices at a young age.
South Sudan is facing one of the region’s worst hunger crises.
“After the Great Famine, I learned how to store food properly, especially in June through august during South Sudan’s hunger season,” she said. “Those who survived now work hard every day. During sowing season no one stays home without any responsibilities.”
The famine had lasting ripple effects on Adior’s life and livelihood. The years of hunger especially took a toll on her health. Life as a sorghum farmer wasn’t easy either, and even before the floods, Adior could not easily provide for her family.
When the torrential downpours came, Adior’s harvest was washed away. Few crops survived, far from enough to last through the hunger season. Adior’s family had to collect wild food like leaves or fruit to survive. To earn a bit of extra money, Adior tried to collect firewood or make charcoal to sell at the market. Still, she was not able to make much money— let alone put a meal on the table or send her children to school.
Along with rice farming, Action Against Hunger is working with local communities to plant crops like onions.
In 2022, Action Against Hunger came to Old Fangak, South Sudan to respond to the region’s flooding crisis. The village was nearly all submerged, and Action Against Hunger had to act quickly to mitigate the dire effects. Teams launched an innovative new project — by deciding to use the floods to their advantage. They taught farmers in Old Fangak how to grow rice within the flood waters.
The pilot project reached Adior’s smaller village in 2023. Adior joined the initiative with an open mind. The local staff distributed rice seeds, hosted trainings, and gave Adior and her community the tools they needed to grow lush rice paddies.
The pilot has transformed Adior’s life. “The rice project from Action Against Hunger has helped to secure our household food,” she said. “Right now, my children have all their meals like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also managed to buy my children’s school uniforms and pay all their fees. We do not have problems anymore. The rice project has improved the household’s well-being.”
Rice Saves Lives
After unprecedented flooding destroyed their homes, the small area of Paguir, South Sudan, became a refuge for hundreds of displaced families. Many faced extreme levels of hunger and resorted to eating water lilies. But through Action Against Hunger’s support, farmers began putting flood waters to good use and innovating against hunger.
Today, Adior’s family enjoys full, nutritious dinners — like rice cooked with vegetables and fish. It’s a dish full of vitamins, fatty acids, and nutritional value.
Adior is proud to be a rice farmer: “I love working with rice because nothing destroys the crop easily,” she said. “When my village experiences flooding it does not destroy the crop. Bugs in the area do not eat rice in the field. Rice is very good to eat, it is a better meal than sorghum.”
Adior’s family lives comfortably thanks to the money Adior earns selling rice at a local market. With some excess cash in her pocket, Adior has also purchased her first pair of chickens and is building a new “tukul” (hut) for the children to have their own space to sleep. For the first time in her life, she no longer fears that history will repeat — her children will not face the same crisis she did as a child.
