- DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
LCNC shall carry out both food security and social activities
a. FOOD SECURITY:
11.1 Agriculture
The people of North Eastern Torit are agro-pastoralists communities. They practice traditional agriculture and also keep animal. These activities are carried out both on the mountain slopes and on the plains. Some of the crops grown include; Sorghum, bulrush, millet, pumpkins, groundnuts, sesame, and Okra. Most of the produce is for domestics’ consumption and a surplus is sent to the market. Wield foods which include honey are collected especially during poor harvest so as to bridge the food deficits. The communities living in this area also utilize Forest products such as gum, mats, bamboo and timbers. These communities mainly for prestige, marriage, are also keeping livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats and chickens and a small amount is marketed. The area also has some fishing grounds, mainly around western Lopit board Pari area.
The overall purpose of LCNC is to diversify agricultural activities, improve livestock and crops management, and utilization of the available natural resources in the area. It main involvement will be:
- To find ways of modernizing agricultural activities such as cultivation, livestock and bee-keeping methods by:
- Improving household food security through the provision of cultivation tools, seeds and other farm inputs
- Training local people on the use of ox-plough and on farm management skills
- Training local people on methods of fighting soil crops management as well as on methods of containing animal diseases.
- Improving bee-keeping and honey harvesting methods by providing other types of bee hives and other modern harvesting methods
- Improving the fishing methods;
- To find ways of maximizing the utility of indigenous natural resources by:
- Enlightening, concientizing and encouraging the indigenous people about the utilities and benefits of these resources
- Involving indigenous people in the collection and preparation of lulu seeds for oil and soap. This is to develop the lulu industry in the area
- Involving the indigenous people in the collection and gathering of bamboo and gum,
- Finding markets for marketing the indigenous goods for the sustenance of the economy.
11.2. Economics and Cooperative Activities
The market structures of this area are under-developed and under-utilized. The principal medium of exchange is a dual of barter and monetary trade. The former being the dominant. There used to be a bilateral and inter-communities’ trade between the people of this area and others from other districts. For instance, the Pari could take their goods as far as Liria, Loronyo, Northern Lopit, and to Torit. Tennet use to trade with Pari, the Murle and the Boya. Eastern and Southern Lopit trade extensively with Otuho, Toposa and occasionally with Buya. Lopit and Pari use to supply Torit District with a wide spectrum of goods such as cattle, groundnuts, sorghum (dura), honey, chickens, fish, handicrafts, okra, calabashes, hoes and tobacco. Currently, due to the absence of law and order, most of these trade links rarely operate. This made the people in this area and others to find an alternative market in other places within and outside the country.
Since one of the principal objectives of LCNC is to revive the local economics activities and to tape local capacities and resources for the betterment of the life of the same, it will undertake this by organizing the local people into formidable economics groups_cooperatives. It will try to find external markets for some locally produced goods.
b. SOCIAL SERVICES
11.3 Education
Education institutions in North Eastern Torit County, and the region at large, have been left at the hands of the local authority, the churches and NCA. The churches run their founded schools, while the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC) run schools built by local communities. But both of them receive certain school assistance from UNICEF through NCA/NPA. Most of these schools lack concrete structures and other school facilities. They lack ways of motivating teachers and have few textbooks for teaching; children do not have enough exercise books, pens and uniforms. Thus, this lack of basic school necessities greatly affects teachers’ concentration and the general performance of the schools in the area.
The main task of LCNC will be to:
- Aid, strengthen and to revitalized the education system in this area by active involvement of both indigenous people and their resources and local authorities.
- It will seek ways of motivating teachers through material schemes and other traditional ways (e.g., digging teachers’ fields). The ultimate goal of LCNC is to reduce illiteracy levels in the area.
- Build and strengthen a primary and a secondary to serve as model schools.
11.4 Health and Community Health
This is one of the areas where much is needed. Presently, the health situation in Eastern Equatoria is overwhelmingly bad despite numerous empty clinics’ structures built at the time of peace. Diseases and labor related fatalities are still rampaging the people. Churches and NCA/NPA are trying to salvage the people by insufficiently providing some drugs.
Some of the diseases that frequently affect people’s health include malaria, cholera, meningitis typhoid, TB, leprosy and many others. These diseases do not only need medicines to combat them, they also need community health education. People need to be taught some basics community health’s tips like keeping their environment clean, boiling and filtering drinking water, minimizing contacts with infected persons, seeking medical attention before the situation becomes worst and so on.
Given the availability of funds, LCNC shall address some of these health problems by:
- Carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the health situation, provision of drugs and other health necessities including health structures.
- Giving health education first priority.
- Putting much emphasis on preventive methods rather than on curative ones.
11.5 Women and Youth
This will mainly deal with gender and numerical issues that are related to development. This is because half of the population is composed of women and youth, and they will be the one required to come and carried most of development activities that are related to the cooperative and income generating activities, peace and roads’ maintenance and agriculture.
12. IMPLEMENTATION
Its Executive Committee/Body or staff in collaboration will carefully implement most of LCNC’s programs with the stakeholders and the local authorities, so as to carry out programs as planned. It shall recruit well-qualified and experienced personnel, so that there can be smooth, flexible and effective follow of the objectives and utilization of the funds received.
13. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The progress of any of any LCNC’s activity shall be monitored at every level of its implementation. This is to ensure that input activities, work schedules, targeted outputs and other required actions are proceeding according to plan. LCNC staff shall hand-in progress reports at all level of the activity. The Executive Committee/Body has to make periodic review and assessment of the activity. It has to hold frequent monitoring meetings with the field staffs and learn from them about the successes, difficulties and areas that need change of tactics.
On the other hand, the stakeholders shall carry out the evaluation of each program. It shall be based on the analysis of whether its activities are geared towards the achievement of the overall objectives, on what benefits have so far been achieved, for how many people and how the resources (especially the finances) have been utilized and managed.