Farmers from Western Equatoria State with support from the Azande kingdom have managed to transport a truckload of water melon to markets in Juba, despite the poor road network linking Yambio to Juba.

Sebit Angelo, the representative of the Azande kingdom said on Monday that farmers in Yambio have cultivated up to 10 feddans of water melon to Juba with support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“We have brought the first batch of water melon supplies to the market in Juba,UNFAO has helped the farmers in production techniques and they have also helped in transport,” Angelo told journalists in Juba. 

He said they plan to also bring fruits such as pineapple, lemon and avocado.

“We are asking partners to support and encourage farmers to do more, we need tractors to improve farming in Western Equatoria State,” Angelo said.

He revealed that the king of Azande, Atoroba Peni has a plan to improve agriculture in Yambio as directed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

Angelo urged the government to rehabilitate roads linking Western Equatoria State to other parts of the country in order to improve farmers’ access to markets.

 “We have a lot of agricultural produce from the kingdom or in Yambio, we need to find a way to repair the roads because there are other farm produce that do not need to take two to three days,” he said.