Food Security and Livelihood

Food Security and Livelihood
  
The decades of civil war have strongly affected the state of local food production in South Sudan, the current crisis has compounded the problems. This made generations of South Sudanese to witness the destruction of their acres and yields, and was repeatedly driven away from their homesteads and farms. As a legacy of a life on the move, they have lost their faith in long-term agricultural production – and subsequently lost the necessary know-how too. 

Children’s Aid contributes to the mitigation measures and aims at a more stable food production. This creates new opportunities for income generation. Children’s Aid encompassing a wide array of activities customized to meet a community’s specific needs in building food security and livelihood, our programs are designed to bolster agricultural production, jumpstart local market activity, support micro-enterprise initiatives, and otherwise enhance a vulnerable community’s access to sustainable sources of food and income.

To determine what causing hunger in a given area, Children’s Aid carries out comprehensive evaluations by collecting and analyzing key data on local assets, resources, and livelihoods strategies. Our teams meet directly with community members to better understand local conditions and create a collaborative plan of action.

Strategies
 
Through the activities of its partners, Children’s Aid contributes to a broad range of humanitarian operations and assists the most needy population groups with staple food. This allows them to bridge emergency periods of extreme food shortage. Among Children’s Aid’s partners, WFP is of foremost importance as the main provider of emergency food assistance in South Sudan. WFP also coordinates the food assistance by other UN agencies and NGOs. 

Increasing food production and diversification
In order to address the risks of the persistent food insecurity and the strong dependence on imported food, Children’s Aid the local community at increasing and diversifying the local food production. In contrast to the countrywide emergency food assistance, Children’s Aid here concentrates in training farmers on food productions; these programmes are substantial to fighting food insecurity among internally displaced persons, returnees and other vulnerable population groups.

Income generation and extension services
Complementary, Children’s Aid aims to improve the livelihoods and enhance the self-subsistence capacities of the people of south Sudan. Especially Children’s Aid boosts the capacities of the local farmers in product marketing – and thus income generation – and develops the technical expertise of the State Authorities required for an effective extension service towards the farming population. This helps the farming communities to re-enter the production cycle and – finally – to enhance their food security.

Adolescent- Friendly Health Services (ADFHS)

Adolescent- Friendly Health Services (ADFHS)

In south Sudan adolescents face many health challenges particularly reproductive health which include early/unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, STIs/HIV/AIDS, female genital mutilation psychosocial problems such as substance abuse, delinquency, truancy, sexual abuse. As a result of the above problems, many adolescents drop out of schools. Adolescents and young people need to be reached with Adolescent- Friendly Health Services (ADFHS) to mitigate the multiple health challenges and behavioural risks that they are faced with. Children’s Aid will do this in a manner that ensures availability and accessibility by all young people. Young people and the community will be sensitised on the existence of the adolescent health services to ensure sustainability and acceptability. Parents, communities and leaders will be able to appreciate to and enable them support young people to access ADFHS services in the communities, schools and health facilities.

Adolescent Friendly Health services offered by Children’s Aid include:

·         Clinical Care for Sexual gender-based violence

·         Prenatal care and maternity care for pregnant adolescents

·         HPV immunization

·         HIV counselling and testing

·         Breast examination and information on cancer cervix

·         Information and counselling on health especially growth and development

·         Information on their rights and responsibilities.

·         Referral and follow up

Target and priority groups:

All adolescents are eligible for adolescent friendly services irrespective of their age or mental status. Every adolescent in need is to be targeted however; Children’s Aid priority group will be:-

Ø  Primary

Adolescents and their peers (10-24 years)

The priority groups, in both rural and urban areas, will include:

·         Adolescent girls;

·         Adolescents in employment likely to expose them to sexual and substance abuse and unprotected sex;

·         Adolescents with mental/ physical disability;

·         Adolescents living with HIV/AIDS;

·         Adolescents with violent behaviour;

·         Adolescents under conviction or incarceration;

·         Orphaned adolescents;

·         Adolescents with substance abuse problems;

·         Adolescents with abortion complications;

·         Displaced adolescents e.g refugees and street children;

·         Pregnant and lactating adolescents;

·         Physically abused adolescents;

·         Adolescent in poverty situation;

Ø  Secondary

·         Parents and guardians

·         Service providers

·         School teachers

·         Tutors/ Lecturers

·         Sectoral extension workers

·         Village health teams.

·         Sexual workers

Target for IEC messages of Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health

Children’s Aid will use IEC to increase every one’s understanding of adolescent health issues so as to increase the utilization of adolescent friendly services.

The message will include:

·         Adolescent sexuality;

·         Contraception, including emergency contraception;

·         Unwanted pregnancies

·         Unsafe abortion;

·         Early marriages

·         Gender based domestic, sexual abuse and violence such as rape defilement and incest;

·         Care during pregnancy;

·         Care of infants;

·         Prevention of STI/HIV/AIDS;

·         Voluntary counselling and testing for HIV;

·         Harmful traditional practices eg FGM and widow inheritance

·         Risky sexual behaviour;

·         Substance abuse;

·         Proper nutrition and personal hygiene

·         How to avoid accidents

·         Special RH needs for adolescents with disabilities

·         Socio- economic consequences of adolescent ill health;

·         Life skills

Target for IEC messages of Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH)

The message will be targeted at the following:

·         Adolescents;

·         Parents/guardians;

·         Service providers including community based distributors and community health workers;

·         Sectoral extension workers

·         Community leaders at all levels;

·         NGOs and development partners;

·         Religious bodies and leaders;

·         High risk male groups eg boda boda, taxi and truck drivers

·         ‘sugar mummies and daddies’.

·         Personel to carry out IEC activities

Anybody who is adequately trained will be actively involved. It is, however, intended that the following will be at the forefront:

·         Peer educators;

·         All trained /oriented service providers;

·         All oriented teachers, community development officers/ assistants;

·         Community RH workers;

·         All extension workers;

·         Village RH committee member;

Helping to improve on health system

With Child mortality rate at 2054 and highest in the world, thing look still far from better as pateints in the refferal hospital seen sharing beds and others laying at the corridors. The current violent compounding the situation the more! This requires joint effort from all sectors, both actors and none state actors to find the lasting solution, as per now, Children Aid is working at arrestting the situation of children with is an emergency, we call everybody to join have and we work together!

Provision of Food security and Livelihood

South Sudan is a fertile land inhibited by active young population, given the a normal situation where people live a free lives without war it can be a food basket for Eastern and pearl of African. Children Aid encompassing a wide array of activities customized to meet a community’s specific needs, our programs are designed to bolster agricultural production, jumpstart local market activity, support micro-enterprise initiatives, and otherwise enhance a vulnerable community’s access to sustainable sources of food and income.

To determine what’s causing hunger in a given area, Children Aid carries out comprehensive evaluations by collecting and analyzing key data on local assets, resources, and livelihoods strategies. Our teams meet directly with community members to better understand local conditions and create a collaborative plan of action.