Environment

Using experimental data from a pilot project administered in rural Tonj South, Aweil West, and Aweil North, this paper studies climate services reception and application in South Sudan. The pilot climate service was first of its kind directly delivered to farmers and agro-pastoralists in the country. The results are encouraging: a vast majority of the project beneficiaries received climate conditions advice, used it, trusted it, and are now interested to make use of such services in the future. This positive reception implies a growing interest by agro-pastoralists and farmers to use weather forecasts to make informed farming decisions. We recommend a number of policies to strengthen this interest, with the objective of improving livelihoods for the rural population. First, there is need to establish a permanent national technical working group on climate services to coordinate, review, translate and disseminate climate information to key end users (e.g., agro-pastoralists, farmers, health professionals, airlines, etc). Support for this group could be drawn from the Global Environment Facility. Second, a financial and meteorological strategy for long-term climate services in South Sudan is desired. Third, the stakeholders should institute a climate data sharing agreement for more informed coordination and decision-making. These data would need generating using equipment that meets the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) standards. Fourth, more studies to increase understanding of the role of traditional rainmakers and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), creating an integrated climate services model to inform livelihoods and policies, are suggested. Finally, the stakeholders should mobilize resources to improve national capacity on climate information by strengthening South Sudan Meteorological Department through equipment acquisition, training and exchange visits with global forecasting centers, such NOAA’s Africa Training Desk.

Climate change poses global risks. These risks adversely affect women in developing countries because of their little capacity to adapt. Previous studies show that women are more vulnerable to climate change than men for a variety of reasons, including illiteracy, low socioeconomic skills, inadequate access to assets, and social isolation, among others. Thus, if empowered, women can contribute significantly to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Limited understanding exists on climate change gender impact disparity in South Sudan. Using literature and empirical data, we find that in South Sudan: Women are at the lower rung of social hierarchy, which produces imbalances that highly expose them to climate change disasters; Women have less resilience assets, rely more on natural resources, have high rate of illiteracy, low skills and low access to professional employment, which make them more vulnerable to climate change calamities than men, and Households headed by females are more vulnerable to disasters such as famine.

When the South Sudanese Petroleum Act was enacted in 2012, a flicker of hope of a better environmental management was felt after many years of environmental degradation due to negligence by the government in Khartoum. However, since the Act was passed three years ago, environmental ruin has continued. So what explains the continued social and environmental impacts of oil production in South Sudan? This paper, therefore, evaluates the extent to which the environmental provisions of the Act have been enforced, and attempts to identify the gaps and challenges facing the implementation. To determine the level of enforcement, we conducted structured interviews with key officials from the ministries of Environment and Petroleum and Mining and Nile Petroleum Corporation.
We found that environmental provisions in the Act have not been implemented as expected, no wonder that environmental degradation has continued. Only 23% of environmental standards, which have no reference to the Petroleum Act 2012, have been enforced and most of this enforcement happened before the Act was passed. Some of the factors and challenges cited as responsible for lack of implementation include the shutdown of oil operations in 2012, ongoing civil war, delay in the enactment of overall national environmental law and in establishment of an independent and technical environmental body, nonexistence of political will and lack of environmental awareness, among others. Some of the gaps identified include lack of provisions on climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA), Environmental Management System (EMS) and detailed processes on principles and triggers for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

During times of severe food shortages, alternative sources of food are the only means of survival. When crops fail or are destroyed, markets, houses, livestock and food stores are demolished or stolen, and movement is limited due to conflict, local populations have only two sources of food left; aid and what is locally available in the surrounding environment. The utilization of wild plants, fish and game becomes a primary coping mechanism for people affected by conflict. While the killing of wild game is illegal, and fishing is supported with distributions of tools, knowledge on the role of indigenous wild plants in diets is not well understood. Although vital during times of food shortage, wild plants are also a normal part of diets in South Sudan. Research has found that wild plants are “the nutritional equivalent of- and in some cases are superior to- introduced vegetables and fruits” and their use both diversifies and improves diets.1 Some wild plants are particularly nutritious and could potentially play a significant role in creating a sustainable source of much needed nutrients in South Sudan.

Further some wild plants also hold economic value and are already traded in local, and even international markets. The domestication or sustainable collection of wild plants with agricultural or economic potential could create alternative sources of both income and food. Distribution of food aid is costly, unsustainable and not always a possibility. The potential for developing or promoting a local, sustainable food source should not be ignored. Utilizing and sharing indigenous knowledge on wild plants, including which ones are edible, how to prepare them and which have economic value, could play an important role in supporting communities. The expansion of the use of wild plants is not an immediate solution to the dire food situation currently found in South Sudan, and should not be promoted as such. However, the humanitarian community should not ignore any potential local solutions that exist. The correct utilization of indigenous wild food plants could play a significant role in improving the lives of people suffering due to conflict and food insecurity.

This climate change profile is designed to help integrate climate actions into development activities. Since 1980, decreasing rainfall has been accompanied by rapid increases in temperature on the order of more than 1°C. This warming, which is two and a half times greater than the global warming, is making ‘normal’ years effectively drier. Rapid population growth and the expansion of farming and pastoralism under a more variable climate regime could dramatically increase the number of at-risk people in Sudan over the next 20 years. Climate change will aggravate South Sudan’s fragile situation and may contribute to existing tensions and conflict.

In the oil fields of Thar Jath, South Sudan, increasing salinity of drinking water was observed together with human incompatibilities and rise in livestock mortalities. Hair analysis was used to characterize the toxic exposure of the population. Hair samples of volunteers from four communities with different distance from the center of the oil field (Koch 23 km, n = 24; Leer 50 km, n = 26; Nyal 110 km, n = 21; and Rumbek 220 km, n = 25) were analyzed for altogether 39 elements by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. Very high concentrations and a toxic health endangerment were assessed for lead and barium. The concentration of lead increased steadily with decreasing distance from the oil field from Rumbek (mean 2.8 mg/g) to Koch (mean 18.7 mg/g) and was there in the same range as in highly contaminated mining regions in Kosovo, China or Bolivia. The weighting materials in drilling muds barite (BaSO4) and galena (PbS) were considered to be the sources of drinking water pollution and high hair values. The high concentrations of lead and barium in hair demonstrate clearly the health risk caused by harmful deposition of toxic industrial waste but cannot be used for diagnosis of a chronic intoxication of the individuals.

South Sudan is highly vulnerable to climate change, including flooding, droughts and, most recently, a locust infestation. Long-term climate change, like a gradual increase in temperature, and short-term changes, like increased flooding, have indirect and interlinked implications for peace and security in South Sudan.

This paper reviews the existing literature to determine the adequacy of evidence and extent
of the environmental impacts in the oil producing areas in South Sudan. The following is
revealed:
o Evidence from previous studies shows that there is a serious environmental and
social disaster in the three oil producing areas, even though such evidence does not
generate enough consensus for the decision makers.
o Environmental impacts assessments (EIA) conducted before the oil operations
reveal that (1) the air in these locations was of good quality and (2) the water was
safe for both human and animal consumption, except for the pockets with high
concentration of salt in groundwater in the Um Ruwaba geological region.
o Still, many parameters of environmental quality usually recognized by World
Health Organization (WHO) have not been tested in both the EIAs and related
environmental studies.
o In summary, existing evidence links high concentrations of salt and heavy metals to
oil exploration, development and production, which are the cause of the widely
reported birth defects, miscarriages, infertility, and cancers in the affected areas.
We recommend a comprehensive, independent environmental and social assessment to
determine the extent of environmental and social impacts. Resulting insights could be used
to develop remediation measures to restore the environment and address related health
and social problems. The assessment should be carried out by a reputable firm or an
organization, which would need to be selected by the Ministry of Environment and
Forestry through a competitive bidding process. In the long term, results from this
assessment could help lay the foundation for sustainable development, provide oil
companies with new social license to operate, avert potential conflict and ecological
disasters, and aid in building a lasting peace in the country

The Horn of Africa including South Sudan has been facing a wide range of interconnected and mutually reinforcing negative conditions for many years. Recently, climate change-induced migration, either voluntary in nature as an adaptation strategy or through displacement, has become a formidable challenge for these countries. Achieving a resilient society – where people can adapt in place and thrive, or migrate with dignity to areas of higher opportunity – should be an important part of meeting national development goals. It is thus critical to take a long-term perspective on how to reduce vulnerability and make human and socioeconomic development more resilient, in order to reduce the number of distressed people forced to move as a result of climate change.

South Sudan is a landlocked country that falls almost entirely (96 per cent) within the Nile River Basin in East-Central Africa. It is bordered in the north by Sudan; by Ethiopia and Kenya in the east; by Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the south; and in the west by the Central African Republic. It occupies an area of 658,842 km2. The country is covered by extensive grasslands, wetlands and tropical forests. Its natural assets include significant agricultural, mineral, timber and energy resources. The climate is mostly hot and dry, with seasonal rains that allow for two or three harvests a year in the country’s green belt. Apart from oil, however, its natural resources are largely unexploited and only 4.5 per cent of its potential arable land is cultivated.
South Sudan is inhabited by a number of different ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Dinka, a traditionally pastoralist people that makes up 36 per cent of the population. It is followed by the Nuer, who constitute about one-fifth. Other groups include the Zande, the Bari, the Shiluk and the Anywa (Anwak). In total there are 64 ethnic groups in South Sudan. There is also a small Arab population in South Sudan.
With less than 13 people per square kilometre, population density in the country is one of the lowest in Africa. Livelihoods in the northern dry areas are dominated by seasonal agriculture, pastoralism, fishing and hunting. The country is divided into three regions (the former historic provinces): Bahr el Ghazal in the northwest, Equatoria in the south and Greater Upper Nile in the northeast. There were ten states, which are now divided into thirty two.