I plan to supply high graded tomatoes and onions in South Sudan

By Joseph Aluong Kut

Because of the high economic returns that horticulture offers, I decided to start a project that will focus on this enterprise. That’s why I launched the South Sudan Entrepreneurship Alliance (SSEA) agribusiness firm.

Based on market surveys from the South Sudan Ministry of Agriculture and Chamber of Commerce, vegetable farming has been struggling in the past 10 years, despite the potential that the region has to produce its own vegetables. As a result, much of the vegetables we consume is often imported from neighbouring countries.

The SSEA project therefore aims to produce graded and packed onions and vegetables to be supplied to supermarkets, hotels, wholesalers and retailers.

We also plan to cover four major markets in Juba, namely Konyokonyo, Jebel, Custom and Shirikat.

Our vision is to be a leading company that provides quality agricultural products and services to our clients, while at the same time creating employment to the young people in the communities where we will be running these projects.

Being close to river Nile that offers abundant fresh water, we will be able to undertake irrigation projects for our farming ventures. This will also guarantee all year production and supply of the onions and tomatoes to our customers.

We have already secured four plots of land—measuring 40 X 50m. Two will be used to grow tomatoes, while the other two will be used for onions.

The innovation is therefore outlined as follows:

1. Grading: Our farmers will grade the tomatoes & onions according to the market requirements.

2. Packaging:Our enterprise will sell 1 Kg packs and custom labeled crates of 25kg capacity.

3. Marketing: We will be involved in market research in order to produce products that conform to market requirements as opposed to the current scenario where one grows a crop without actually knowing who will require it or where the target market will be.

4. Production methods: Because good technical skills and management practices are key to a productive harvest, we hope to train our farmers in the best farming practices.

SSEA also hopes to secure a loan totaling about 4million South Sudanese pounds or $2,000 to kick start the project. Part of this money will also be used to secure farm equipment that will make our work easier.