Grains As Life: The value of sorghum and millet amongst the Abyei Dinka

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
Deng Kuol
Institution/organisation
The Rift Valley Institute
Topic
NGO associated?
Source URL
http://riftvalley.net/publication/grains-life-value-sorghum-and-millet-amongst-abyei-dinka
Summary
In this piece, Deng Kuol explains the significance of grains for his pastoralist Ngok Dinka community—more commonly associated with cattle—in the borderland region of Abyei. To illustrate this, Deng describes the efforts made by his mother to preserve access to a socially valued variety of sorghum—ruath—by travelling into military occupied areas of Abyei while her family was displaced outside their home areas. The story illustrates how, for the Dinka community in South Sudan, grains are indeed ‘life’.
Date of Publication
09/09/2020