Peace dividend: can coffee break the South Sudan curse?

South Sudan has been cursed with oil. It has the oil and its neighbour to the north, Sudan, has the refineries. The two countries were previously one country, but South Sudan gained its independence in 2011 after a vote. The peace accord between the two countries was signed in January 2005, with the condition that a vote on secession or unity would occure after six years, in July 2011. Border, land, oil, and water disputes were prolific before independence and continue along the border regions four years after independence. Both countries have placed too much dependence on oil to provide their country’s wealth.

Huffington Post documents a promising factor that might bring South Sudan the economic growth and peace it aspires to (September 22, 2015). Coffee may the sustainable agricultural crop that brings investors and investment to the region. Neither country has capitalized to date on economic diversification, but that could be the solution to their economic development, and coffee could be part of the solution.

A 2012 World Bank study found that South Sudan was using only 4% of its arable land for agriculture, which was valued at $800 million. If the amount of land used for agriculture was increased to 10% the revenue would increase to $3 billion.

Coffee may be the crop that makes the difference. Other countries coming out of conflict that turned to coffee to improve their economic growth include: Eastern Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Columbia, and Mexico. Coffee is a high-value crop that could provide ‘an anchor of stability and economic diversification’ for the country. Coffee grows best in tropical zones, and South Sudan has a tropical zone in the mountains of Equatoria in the south of the country (bordering Kenya). So coffee might break the South Sudan curse.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-prendergast/coffee-a-pillar-of-peace-in-south-sudan-and-africa_b_8177244.html

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