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Nyaloka Puok, a South Sudanese woman, is awakened by gunshots at midnight. She is confused, wondering if fighting is erupting in her village Paguir. But fear grips her heart as her community agreed to use gunfire for warning: water is coming.
The single mother of four, aged 37, lays her cot on the ground and then gets out of her hut. Standing on her homestead, she watches gushing floodwaters swallow up her farm—her lifeline. The dyke burst once more.
Puok told me that she could see the water rising this time and it was clear to her. She was referring to the year in which massive floods struck, washing away her crops and forcing her to live off wild fruit and water lily bulbs. This food was foraged to supplement her diets, but not enough to replace them.
Two years later, floodwaters have not receded making it impossible for farmers to cultivate. Puok said, “Under this water are my land,” while pointing out where her sorghum crops were once. “Hunger is with us for two decades. My children and my bed partner always go to sleep hungry.”
Harvests lost in the past three years since massive floods swept across South Sudan—affecting 49 counties in eight states—would have fed local populations for up to eight months of the year, but all the crops were destroyed. Initial studies by the Food and Agricultural Organization suggest that about 65,000 hectaresFloods have caused damage to cultivated land in many cases. 800,000 animals died. The World Food Programme (WFP) forecasts a rise in food insecurity this year as families who are subsistence farmers—like Puok—have no way of sustaining themselves.
Photo by Marwa Ahad
Many parts of South Sudan are now under water. Experts are unsure when the flood waters will recede and if it can evaporate quickly enough before the rain season starts in April. This could mean that South Sudan is at greater risk.
The worst affected are Unity and Jonglei states. Floodwaters have flooded entire regions, turning them into a water world without any dry land. We sailed for over two hours on what was once a roadway that is now completely underwater. We arrived at the edge of Paguir and then we waded through waist-high floodwaters to reach Puok’s homestead.
Photo by Marwa Ahad
According to Puok and other locals, many people fled Paguir for dryer ground, including well-off families that left Jonglei to settle in Juba or Khartoum. Because of the mass exodus, fewer well off families, on which locals relied for their goodwill, have remained in their homes.
Puok is stubborn and refuses leave, even though her life seems to be wasting away. Her mango tree is the one thing she is trying to protect.
She said, “I planted this tree many decades ago.” Puok stated that it has survived the floods and the dangers we have encountered. “It is my miracle-tree.”
Photo Courtesy Marwa Ahad
Many trees in South Sudan’s flooded region have been killed by three years of consecutive floods that have left the forest floors flooded and boggy.
Searching for Noah’s Ark
Puok’s story is just one of many in South Sudan, which is home to the largest wetlands on Africa. The shape of these wetlands is changing rapidly. Based on satellite images taken in Jan 2022, the most recent estimates of floods’ impact show that flooding is affecting more areas than the average for the same period in 2002 to 2019, which was approximately 5 percent.
This is changing the topography and resulting in less arable land. However, more people are moving to more dry locations, where they can live in close proximity to other communities.
Roughly the size of Texas, South Sudan is a land locked country of only 12 million people, most of whom live in settlements flanked by a body water on one side—such as a riverbank or swamp—and a dirt road on the other. Conflict often results from limited access to resources. Internally displaced South Sudanese and rival pastoral groups move into and out communities, fighting for arable land.
Puok, back in Paguir built a dyke from stacked mud to keep water out of her homestead. But she lies awake at night listening intently in case there is a breach—the porous material makes an unreliable barrier.
She said that the water is slowly creeping closer and it is difficult to stop monitoring. She fears that if her dyke bursts, water could enter her hut and drown her, her children, and their sleep.
“We are tired, and we are suffering. She pleads, “This water is too much.” “The water is defeating me, even though we tried our best,” she pleads. These floods occurred two years ago, and we have lived in water ever since.
South Sudan is among the most rapidly warming locations on Earth, with temperatures increasing as much as 0.53 degrees Celsius per decade—two and a half times greater than the global average. With Nearly 87 percentClimate change threatens the survival of the South Sudanese population, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture, livestock, and forestry.
The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021 concluded with the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact, in South Sudan and other developing nations besieged by the devastating impact of global warming, climate change is moving faster than the finances globally allotted to deal with it.
It is no longer sufficient for advanced countries to focus on mitigating the climate crises by reducing fossil fuels emission and transforming food systems. Puok and many others who are already at the frontlines of climate crisis will not be able to adapt to the new climactic stresses. They will have to migrate to a place where they can survive.
Puok, a woman-made island, is marooned on her small island. She wades through waist-high floodwaters to reach her mango trees. Puok’s splashing hand shoos away hungry cows who are trying to eat the tree’s leaves. She guards her last possession.
Marwa Awad works as an aid worker at the World Food Programme (South Sudan). She was previously a journalist covering humanitarian emergencies in Syria. Before that, she was a Egypt-based news reporter. Reuters, The GuardianAnd Al Arabiya.
The views expressed in this article represent the author’s personal opinions.
