Contribution of Colonialism to Famine in South Sudan. Essay Example.

South Sudan is one of the youngest nations in the world having obtained its independence from Sudan in 2010. This was after a life long struggle which emanated from unfair distribution of national resources by the then Bashir led government. However, a revolt against President Salva Kiir began in 2013 after he accused his Vice President Riek Machar of attempting a coup d'etat against the government of the day (Riehl, 2001). Since then, there have been numerous massacres of civilians in many regions of South Sudan with the enormous amount of rebel groups in the state. The state of unrest in the country has disrupted farming activities in the young nation.Apparently, famine has also engulfed the nation causing them to experience a famine. In addition to that, humanitarian activities by various NGOs have been hindered due to the belligerent state of the nation. In light of this, the citizens of South Sudan have been left without a flicker of hope having nothing to eat. South Sudan is one of the countries that is less developed since ancient times during the colonial error. It developed as a result of separation from the North Sudan by the British due to historical, geographical, cultural and political differences. The British passed a policy known as the Closed District Ordinances where they enacted Passports and Permits Ordinances to be used during the shuttling of travelers in the two countries. The British developed more structures and social amenities in North Sudan than in South Sudan hence making it a more powerful than South Sudan (Shanmugaratnam, 2008). I is imperative to note that the British adopted practices as well as policies that destroyed the South Sudan agricultural future of which has led to the little agricultural produce in that country. Some of these policies and practices included:

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The British grabbed away large portions of land from the Sudanese citizens of which they used for personal purposes or even the commercial use. The business activities of which they engaged themselves in included mining or large commercial farming. This taking away of land from the Sudanese citizens made them lack a portion where they would carry out the farming activities so as to get food to feed their families. This has contributed to the nowadays trend of South Sudanese not engaging in agricultural activities hence leading to famine.

Due to lack of land to carry out farming activities, the South Sudan citizens were forced to work for the British colonialist so as to acquire food to feed their families as payment. The working conditions were indigent, and hence the citizens could be involved in corporal punishment, low wages of which would be partially offered as food and at times as cash. This has made the South Sudan citizens not to engage in agricultural practices since they only depend on being employed by others due to the lack of self-innovation in agriculture hence leading to famine in that country.

Due to the loss of manpower, the British were forcing the Sudanese citizens to engage themselves in working at their farms and hence the Sudanese did not have the chance to engage themselves in through the involvement of their minds to exploit the resources at their exposure so as to participate in farming activities. This has affected agriculture in South Sudan till today since many people are not usually interested in agricultural activities as they were not given a chance to exploit their potentials during the colonial period.

The British diversified the South Sudanese economic structure. This made them introduce cash crops as the main agricultural produce so as to meet their demands of using it as a raw material in their industries. This caused the South Sudanese citizens not to engage themselves in producing food crops of which they would use as a source of food to their families. This trend has been embraced by even the present South Sudan citizens hence making their agricultural practices very poor since they only rely on producing cash crops mostly hence leading to famine.

Conclusion

South Sudanese nationals will starve to death by the thousands, perhaps by the tens or a huge number if the present war proceeds. As the photos of starving kids begin to linger, countless in help will be passed on, the length of the South Sudan government completes on Kiir's assurances to allow freed empathetic get to (Natsios, 2012). Regardless, if the principle response to these photos is a useful one, and the fundamental purposes behind this starvation are not tended to, then this cycle of death will begin again one year from now, and the year after. Yes, the world must do whatever it can to treat the symptoms of this emergency, in any case, there is in like manner an open entryway, with extended thought subsequently of the starvation, to finally begin to address the fundamental driver of the crisis (LeRiche & Arnold 2013).

References

Ayers, A. J. (2010). Sudan's uncivil war: the globalhistorical constitution of political violence. Review of African Political Economy, 37(124), 153-171.

De Waal, A. (1988). Refugees and the creation of famine: the case of Dar Masalit, Sudan. Journal of Refugee Studies, 1(2), 127-140.

Deng, F. M. (2001). Sudan-civil war and genocide. Middle East Quarterly.

Deng, F. M. (2011). War of visions: Conflict of identities in the Sudan. Brookings Institution Press.

Idris, A. (2005). Conflict and politics of identity in Sudan. Springer.

Leonardi, C. (2013). Dealing with Government in South Sudan: histories of chiefship, community and state. Boydell & Brewer Ltd.

LeRiche, M., & Arnold, M. (2013). South Sudan: from revolution to independence. Oxford University Press (UK).

Natsios, A. S. (2012). Sudan, South Sudan, and Darfur: what everyone needs to know. OUP USA.

Riehl, V. (2001). Who is ruling in South Sudan?: the role of NGOs in rebuilding socio-political order (Vol. 9). Nordic Africa Institute.Shanmugaratnam, N. (2008). Post-war development and the land question in South Sudan. Norwegian University of life sciences (UMB). Noragric.Sikainga, A. A. (2010). Slaves into workers: emancipation and labor in Colonial Sudan. University of Texas Press.