South Sudan’s Minister of Agriculture calls for intervention in the agricultural sector.

Anyoti Adigo, South Sudan’s Livestock and Fisheries Minister, has criticized the economic consequences of the conflict, asking donors and development partners to help food production in the nation.

He was speaking during a press conference to announce the release of a joint study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations, and the World Bank.

“It was a critical opportunity.” It drew three of us from major ministries and partners. The conversation focussed on how our partners might collaborate with line ministries and institutions to solve the problem of food security. “We discussed how we might translate humanitarian relief into agricultural development assistance in the nation,” Adigo told Sudan Tribune on the margins of the conference.

“Everyone applauded and we all urged all the foreign partners to think along this line and start working with the line ministries and start moving away from humanitarian programs to more sustainable programs like agriculture sector development,” he continued.

The minister said that conflict had wrecked the economy and that it was essential to pool resources and collaborate with partners to secure the economy’s recovery, including assistance to agricultural sectors and other institutions.

He requested assistance for the agriculture sector in order to improve the country’s economic status after Business Insider Africa identified South Sudan as having the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in Africa.

According to the research, South Sudan has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 64.4 percent as of 2022.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is a measure that compares a country’s public debt to its GDP. According to Business Insider, the debt-to-GDP ratio accurately reflects a country’s capacity to repay its obligations by comparing what it owes with what it generates. Ghana, with an 82.3 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, Kenya, with a 69.7 percent ratio, Rwanda, with a 74.8 percent ratio, and South Africa, with a 68.8 percent ratio, are among the prominent names on the list.

Other nations on the list include the Republic of Congo (85.4 percent), Eretria (175.1 percent), Cab Verde (160.7 percent), Mozambique (133.6%), and Angola (103.7 percent).

According to a recent World Bank assessment, more than half of the world’s low-income nations, most of which are in Africa, are either in debt trouble or on the verge of becoming so. The World Bank emphasized three factors that should compel everyone to take this debt situation seriously.

According to the report, 40% of low-income nations have not disclosed sovereign debt statistics in more than two years, and many of those that have published data restrict the information to central-government debt and conventional debt instruments.

It goes on to state that there are enormous disparities in publicly accessible estimates of debt in low-income nations today. The international banking organization claims that 15 low-income nations have debt that is collateralized by natural resources today, but none of the information on the collateral arrangements is provided.

The World Bank then emphasized that enhanced debt transparency allows countries to make more informed choices regarding future borrowings.

Similarly, it makes it simpler for people to hold their leaders responsible for the debts taken out. According to the report, debt transparency assists lenders in assessing and determining if a country’s current debt portfolio is sustainable, as well as in effectively facilitating a debt restructuring process.

In addition, Standard Bank Group has identified Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Angola as African nations that might face major debt problems in the near future.

Although the specific amounts of these nations’ public debts have not been released, Business Insider Africa suggests that governments address debt concerns seriously.

Despite South Sudan’s enormous agricultural potential, only roughly a quarter of the country’s arable land is allegedly being used.