Feeder roads provide more than just economic development for rural communities in South Sudan

A EUR 16 million programme, financed through the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, will enable the construction of 60-70 Km of all-weather feeder roads and the completion of the 160 m long bridge in rural areas of South Sudan, providing new economic opportunities for its population. This programme complements similar infrastructure funded by the EU in the Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal States, including a 270 Km of feeder roads, three bridges, 4 market places, 4 agro-processing centers.

Along with the benefits of the infrastructure project itself, the EU will further support linkage of producer to markets, particularly through aggregation centres led by the World Food Programme (WFP). The project is part of a larger EU development program aiming at the stabilization and the livelihood resilience of rural vulnerable communities in the region of Greater Bahr El Ghazal. Supporting economic development is, however, just one of the benefits, because “building roads and ending the isolation of rural communities is also important for peacebuilding,” said the EU Ambassador to South Sudan, Amb. Christian Bader, at the launch ceremony on November 17 in Juba.

The programme Feeder Roads to Strengthen the Livelihoods and Resilience of Rural Communities: improving Food Security of the vulnerable populations in Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal States was launched this week and is implemented by the Nobel Peace prize WFP.