Juba, 15 Nov 2o24 – Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) in Partnership with IOM organized two days high level conference, this aims to settle differences between Farmers and Cattle Keepers.
The governor of Central Equatoria State, Augustino Jadalla, on Thursday, told a high-level conference on cattle migration in Juba that unregulated cattle migration has escalated violence and instability.
The conference brought together officials, community leaders, and representatives from UN agencies and civil society to address the rising conflict between cattle herders and farmers, which has led to loss of lives, displacement, and severe humanitarian challenges across Central Equatoria State.
“While cattle are a great source of economic wealth, they have also become a major source of instability and insecurity in Central Equatoria State simply because, as leaders, we have not managed them well,” Governor Jadalla stated.
The conference aimed to create a peaceful and supportive environment for cattle herders to return to their areas of origin in Bor County in Jonglei State and Terekeka County in Central Equatoria State, allowing farmers in Central Equatoria to rebuild their lives and foster social cohesion and economic recovery.
The governor also noted the need to address the practices of other cattle herders such as the Ambororo whose grazing habits, while peaceful, contribute to soil degradation, complicating agricultural productivity for local farmers.
He reminded attendees of the 2017 Republican Order by President Salva Kiir which directed cattle herders to return to their places of origin. However, Jadalla pointed out that this directive remains largely unimplemented as cattle continue to return to Central Equatoria State despite prior efforts to relocate them.
“In 2018, as governor of Jubek State, we successfully escorted thousands of cattle back to Bahr al-Ghazal with military assistance but the cattle returned in lorries soon after,” he recounted, highlighting the difficulties in enforcing the presidential order.