Our population is expected to double in less than 30 years from now which implies increased pressure on our natural resources most of which are being depleted very fast due to poor planning, destruction and shameless greed of government officials.

OUR INTERVENTION:

• Establisha National DemographicPolicy to ensure that our rate of population growth is in tandem with our country’s capacity to deliver services such as quality education, health for all, employment, housing and food security. Entailed in the policy will among others include a vigorous country-wide campaign to encourage family planning. The overall objective of the National Demographic Policy will be to create a high quality and productive population capable of contributing to national development and attain a high quality of life in South Sudans Ten States. Umbrella believes that the highest resource of our country are her people and hence the state will do all it takes to massively invest in the people as a way of developing the nation.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is supposed to be a key sector in the South Sudan ’s national economy with 65% of the People deriving their livelihood from it. Its funding has stagnated at the average of 1.5% of the national budget contrary to the approved rate of agricultural funding required for Sub Saharan Africa of 10% of the national budget by the Maputo Declaration. As a result, 6 million of South Sudanese are estimated to be at the risk of facing food starvation while nearly 2 million are already food insecure. However, FAO recently estimated that almost 5

• million South Sudanese are already suffering severe food shortage in different States. Agriculture has been a back bone of African economies but has been brought down to its knees while all other economic sectors remain stunted due to poor planning and corruption amidst a fast growing population. Umbrella will improve Agriculture in South Sudan by implementing the following:-
  Increment of funding for the sector to 10% of the national budget. Increased funding will among other things enhance the provision of farm inputs and technologies to fight pests and diseases and improve production.
• The Umbrella government will facilitate a national census of crop and animal husbandry as a foundation of national planning for the agricultural sector. It is amazing that for nearly Ten Years, the government of South Sudan has not conducted an agricultural census. The annual sample surveys that are based on by government for agricultural planning do not provide adequate and reliable data. This has been one of the key factors leading to a decline in the performance of the sector.
• The Umbrella will establish a South SudanAgricultural Development Bank (SSADB) to address the lack of access to financial services by South Sudanese farmers and provide stabilization fund. This will enable them commercialize their farming with value added products and improve productivity.
• Umbrella will facilitate mechanization of agriculture to increase production by subsidizing and deploying tractors in the Payams and Boma where the topography allows them to operate. Farmers will obtain the tractors at a fee only amounting to labour and fuel. In areas where the requirement of appropriate technology restricts to the use of Ox-ploughs, they will still be provided by the government. A research will be conducted to introduce high-yielding varieties of crops and create an environment in which costs of production are minimized.
• Umbrella will also introduce Farmers’ Cooperative Unions, Produce Marketing Board, Ware house receipt systems in grain producing States and storage facilities at Payam level, State Farm Institutes for extension services, research, and facilitation of fertilizer application, production, processing, marketing and planning at a farmer’s level. The government will also rehabilitate and construct silos / grain terminalsin Ten States to enhance marketing.
• Avail water for agricultural production through construction and maintenance of irrigation schemes. Intending farmers in organized groups can be subsidized to establish their own micro irrigation facilities.
• Agro processing industries will be a priority of the Umbrella government in order to achieve value addition of agricultural yields in the country.