1. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION The 2016 Crop Assessment Plan FAO/ AFIS South Sudan WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

2. Two Approaches by FAO-AFIS for 2016 1. The crop assessment by Taskforces Taskforce members divided into three Teams Doing the planting and harvesting assessments in the country as per the cropping calendars 2. Piloting of crop monitoring and yield assessment strategy at county level in the country (about 15 pilot counties) 2

3. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Part-I The crop assessment by Taskforces WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

4. How crop assessment should be done Crop assessment is not a once only operation; it is rather a continuous activity that should be accomplished throughout the year. Annual CFSAM should be fielded to verify what has been collected locally and should not be considered as a replacement to or do the work of the Ministry of Agriculture. Experiences of other developing countries show the same

5. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Challenges faced in SS Delays in assessments, data accuracy, shortage of manpower, Absence of Annual Agric. Sample Survey (statistical) Lack of institutional arrangements to collect and transfer seasonal crop/ agricultural information Presence of complex cropping patterns in South Sudan that need careful elaboration (double cropping, relay cropping, mixed cropping, ratooning) Overlapping of planting and harvesting seasons in various parts of the country Difficulty of covering all states because of insecurity, bad roads, and limited number of taskforce members

6. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION How the Taskforce works in 2016 Current activities of the crop assessment taskforce will be modified and strengthened in 2016  senior taskforce members will be divided into states to work with the recently trained state level taskforces.  Planting and harvesting assessments need to stick to cropping calendars  In each assessment, Two senior Taskforce members will work with state taskforces; (one will be team leader).  Teams will submit reports before moving to the next.  Each TL will be responsible for the whole assessment process (planning, data processing and reporting).

7. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION How we work in 2016 Each team is expected to spend 10-15 days in the field & at least 10 days for report writing. Taskforce members will also provide technical support to the County Crop Monitoring Committee (CCMC) in 2016 (pilot counties). The activities of the CCMC will be supportive to the assessments done by the taskforces and the overall crop assessment. 2016 Taskforce work plan is prepared in detail

8. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Part-II Piloting Crop Monitoring and Yield Assessment Strategy at County Level WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

9. Crop Monitoring and Yield Assessment Strategy  Initial crop estimations (area and production) should be done at least at payam level and then aggregated at county and state levels by the respective staff of the government, and its development partners in the sector.  The data collection (tracking the season) and maintaining records should be done on a regular basis.  There is a need for a strategy to support the Taskforce activities through involving extension workers and NGO partners at county level.  Hence, a pilot activity is proposed for the year 2016.  This will bring about institutionalization of the process and sustainability of data collection system even in the absence of projects in the future.

10. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Objectives of the strategy To engage agricultural extension workers and NGO partners at county and payam levels to support crop assessment taskforces in crop monitoring and yield assessment activities –  in collection, processing and reporting of crop performances, yield estimations and weather monitoring and thereby improve the quality of crop assessment information at country level.

11. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Justifications The use of data/ information collected by CFSAM Missions and Taskforce members directly from the farmers to estimate the national and state level information is not sustainable. Due to heavy workload and shortage of time, it has been hard for Taskforce members to cover all cropping areas of the country before crops are harvested. The role of Taskforces and CFSAM missions should be to verify the data provided by each county (audit), but not replacement to the key role of the counties. Hence, this strategy is supplementary to the work of the Taskforce, and is aimed at improving the quality, timing and depth of information collected from the field.

12. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Justifications This necessitates involvement of extension workers, and NGO partners at County, Payam and Boma levels NGOs especially consortium members (BRACED and SORUDEV) and others will be required to directly participate in the crop monitoring pilot exercise in their operational areas, together with:  A/Commissioners, Inspectors and the County and Payam Extension Workers - all coordinated as one team.

13. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION The Way Forward on pilot crop monitoring exercise The piloting and gradual institutionalization of crop monitoring and yield assessment strategy will undertake the following. Establish County Crop Monitoring Committee (CCMC) for each pilot county (15 counties) consisting of County A/ Commissioner, Agric. Inspectors, Payam & County Agric. Ext. workers, relevant NGOs and consortium members. The County A/ Commissioner will be Chairperson and will assign Secretariat/ co-chair (could be NGO) The CCMC will use available manpower, especially those with agricultural background will be members of the Committee.

14. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION The Way Forward on piloting The Committee will lead field assessments to be accomplished during each season in the county. About 8 days /month proposed for up to 5 ext. workers Each county will conduct several field assessments per year, depending on the calendar and frequency of cropping. Cropped area & yield estimations will be done by CCMC The CCMC will conduct monthly meetings during the season to discuss agricultural situations and compile information on progress of the season & prepare report.

15. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION The Way Forward on piloting Wherever possible, the crop monitoring exercise will use the available Farmer Field School (FFS) units that are/were organized by various FAO projects. For the pilot exercise up to15 counties will be targeted from 4 states, namely, Western Bahr El Gazal, Northern Bar El Gazal, Central Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria

16. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Target counties & implementing partners State# of target counties Implementing partners (in addition to Ministry of Agriculture) WBEG2FAO, HARD, ACTED, Concern WW + others… NBEG3FAO, Concern WW, GAA + others Central Equatoria 5FAO to work with FFS projects & additional NGOs to be identified such as FARM Project, Caritus, UMCOR and World Relief Eastern Equatoria 5FAO to work with FFS projects and additional NGO partners to be identified, such as FARM Project, Caritus, UMCOR and World Relief Upper Nile, & Lakes t.b.iT,b.i Total15

17. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION AFIS & Partners’ Support Provision of Training (3-days) for partner NGOs, extension workers and A/ Commissioners Start implementation at county level from May 2016. Appropriate/ simple tools are prepared by AFIS for data collection and reporting. State level agricultural officers will also participate in the supervision of the data collection and crop monitoring activities FAO State Coordinators will help in planning and facilitation of crop assessment, as applicable. Technical support & follow up of CCMC by taskforce members (including the newly trained ones in Aweil)

18. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Reporting by counties Each pilot county will compile its data, maintain records and report to the State & the Taskforce every month during the cropping season. Reporting formats are prepared, which are made simple, as much as possible. There will be 8 “Monthly Crop Monitoring Reports”, from May to December 2016. Monthly reports should show cumulative information up to the reporting month.

19. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION The Way forward Pilot counties will be provided with most basic materials (weighing scale, quadrat, measuring tapes, GPS, nylon string and sample bags).  However, use of locally available simple materials like strings, measuring tapes and crop cutting tools are also encouraged.

20. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Way forward Allocation of realistic budget for field exercise in pilot counties to ensure sustainability of this initiative even after completion of project.  Expenses will be daily allowances, transport costs, stationery and limited items to be used in the field. Conduct monitoring of CCMC activities by FAO and partner organizations

21. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Timeframe Meeting with National MAFCRD for discussion and consensus building on the strategy – 9 th of February 2016 Meeting with SORUDEV & BRACED for the selection of suitable partners (NGOs) and pilot counties – 4th week of Feb. 2016 Preparation of training materials, tools and reporting formats – Feb./ March 2016 Establishment of County Crop Monitoring Committees (CCMC) – March/ April 2016 Provision of training for Gov’t extension workers and staff of partners - March and April, 2016 Implementation on ground, May–Dec.2016 M&E/ follow up – May –Dec 2016

22. WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Thank you ! WITH FUNDING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION