Peace gives hope in land of cattle and guns

Guardian Unlimited | Christmas appeal | Peace gives hope in land of cattle and guns: "...Milk is fine for fattening children but sorghum, the red-eared cereal that towers above men's heads, is the staple food.

In the clearing in front of Mrs Yak's mud hut, two of her daughters use long wooden poles to pound sorghum grains into a paste. Her harvest was poorer than she hoped, but at least there is something to eat.

'We eat once a day, before we go to bed,' she said. 'I make ugali [mash] from the sorghum and we have it with okra stew, mixed with a little fish.'

The crop was grown from seeds lent to the family by the village seed bank. Funded by the aid agency Concern, the seed bank is run by local elders who distribute sorghum, groundnut and cowpea seeds to the neediest families.

In Yirol and the neighbouring county of Awerial, Concern is finding ways to help farmers boost their yields. Scarcity of seeds is one problem. Another is the fact that cultivation is traditionally done by hand.

Aid workers have shown locals how to harness those prized bulls to pull ploughs. The ox-drawn plough has vastly extended the acreage which can be brought under cultivation.

There are hopes of a brighter future for south Sudan after a peace deal signed between the government and rebels in May, but the long years of war have left the south desperately underdeveloped. [...]"