Investigating the extent to which the sudan institutional Capacity in respect to how food security information for Action (sifsia) program has influenced and strengthened the Government's decision making process: a case study across 6 States of south sudan

Abstract

This research report is a product of investigations carried out across six states of South Sudan, aimed at determining an extent to which the Sudan Institutional Capacity: Food Security Information for Action (SIFSIA) had influenced the government's decision making processes in prioritizing food security issues in the country. Geopgraphically, the research covered states of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, Lakes, Jonglei, Western Equatoria and Central Equatoria respectively. The major problem has been the highest levels of food deprivation that was observed particularly in States of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile, Warrap and Lakes states - National baseline household survey report (2009). This situation had existed and continue to aggrevates the food secuity situations in the country. In this study, a sample of 35 respondents was purposively selected from six government institutions. The six institutions included those at central level, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and state levels namely; South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC), South Sudan Center for Census, Statistics and Evaluation (SSCCSE), now called National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF), now called Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Cooperatives and Rural Development (MoAFCRD), Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MoARF), Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Roads and Ministry of Transport combined respectively. A combination of closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from targetdepartments across six states of South Sudan. One way analisis of variance (ANOV A) table have been used in data analysis. Microsoft Excel sheet was also used in ploting the pie charts. The research was meant to answer the following questions:Is the population in South Sudan aware about SIFSIA programme and Crops and Livestock Market Information Systems (CLiMiS) website that have been created by SIFSIA? What type of agricultural information do the population access through CLiMiS website? To whatextend has SIFSIA's programme affected government's decision-making processes in terms of prioritizing food security issues in the country? How frequenj-dqrcitizens access agricultural information through CLiMiS website? Apart from CLiMiS website, whiin ~her sources of agricultural"information do citizens access information from? And finally,how is SIFSIA's programme being rated? According to the results, it was found that SIFSIA's programme has indeed influenced and strengthened the government's dicission making process when it comes to prioritizing food security issues in the country. This is evidenced by the results of data analysis which show that 85% of respondents are aware of existance of SIFSIA's programme and do access agricultural information from CLiMiS website while another 85% agree that indeed, SIFSIA's programme had positively influenced the government's decision making process. Looking at specific information type received, 17% said they receive market prices information for crops, 78% receive prices information on both crops and livestock while only 6% said they receive crops, livestock and other information through the website. Measuring an extent to which SIFSIA has influenced the government's decision-making processes, 47% of the respondents said the programme has quite a bit influenced the government while 53% acknowledge that the programme has influenced the government decisions a lot. This high percentage of 53% reaffirms that the programme has a positive impact on the Government of South Sudan (GoSS). However, to ensure sustainabiIity of agricultural information systems established by SIFSIA, the government must embark on strengthening the technical capacities of staff in the ministries of agriculture and forestry and animal resoures and fisheries, both at national and state levels. In addition, formulation of strong food security policies, popularization a1'ftlfull implementation of food security plans by government will ensure improved and sustainable food St;Curity programmes in the country. The diagram below shows seven steps for conceptual framework applied in this study in which stakeholders involved in implementation of food security information for action programme operate. ix