Baliet County, Central Equatoria State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 Census population: 48,010

2020 Population projection*: 54,058

Ethnic groups and languages: Dinka (Padang, Ngok Lual Yak, which is made up of eleven sub-clans, including: Ajuba, Awieer (Awiɛɛr), Adong (Adɔ̈ŋ), Achaak (Acaak), Abii, Baliët, Balak, Duut, Ding (Dïng), Ngaar (Ŋäär) and Dhiaak), Nuer and Shilluk

Displacement Figures: 5,747 IDPs and 13,852 returnees (Q1 2020)

January 2020 IPC Projections: January 2020 – Crisis (Phase 3); February to April 2020 – Crisis (Phase 3); May to July – Emergency (Phase 4)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Baliet County is located at the centre of Upper Nile State. It borders Panyikang and Malakal Counties to the west, Fashoda County to the north-west, Melut County to the north, Maban, Longochuk and Luakpiny/Nasir Counties to the east and Ulang County to the south. It also borders Jonglei State (Nyirol County) to the south-west.

The county is part of the Eastern flood plains livelihood zone, located in the northeast corner of South Sudan and home to several different agro-pastoralist groups. The White Nile flows along its northwest border, the Sobat and Fulus rivers flow across the southwest corner of the county, and the Adar River across the northeast. The main economic activities in the county are agriculture, livestock and fishing.

An estimated 30% of households are famers and the main crops grown are sorghum, maize, cowpeas, and pumpkin (FAO 2016). Baliet County is one of only a handful of counties in the country where mechanized cereal (or sorghum) production is practiced on a large scale, following patterns of land occupancy established prior to independence. Agriculture is rain-fed with the rainy season lasting from May to October, during which seasonal rivers, streams, marshlands and lakes are created. During the dry season, households fish the White Nile and Sobat River.

The county is also home to cattle herders and is part of traditional pastoral migratory routes, moving westward across the county towards grazing grounds and water access by the Sobat and Fulus rivers. Cattle movements have been significantly disrupted by the sustained violence. Throughout 2014, FAO reported significant abnormal livestock movements heading north, east and west out of Baliet, while in 2015, there was some normal migration, as well as continued abnormal movements north and within the county.

Food security for the Baliet County has alternated between Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels since the onset of violence in December 2013. For January through March 2016, the IPC projected food security in the county would be at Crisis levels (IPC Phase 3). In 2020, IPC projections estimate that food insecurity levels will increase from Crisis (IPC Phse 3) to Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels by the end of the year. Traditionally, cattle raids, livestock diseases, crop pests and drought are the major factors affecting livelihoods. Conflict in the county has often coincided with the planting season, which has depleted local food sources.

Due to Baliet’s location, it has historically relied on trade routes with Ethiopia. However, due to a combination of the civil war and localized violence, trade along this route has decreased over the last ten years.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

The county HQ for Baliet County is Nyongkuach. Baliet County is reported to have low communication infrastructure (i.e. access to Zain/MTN networks) has further hindered development and the ability of humanitarian actors to access all of the population in need (REACH 2020).

The county has been significantly affected by violence and conflict, which has led to the destruction of homes, as well as the looting of cattle, impacting the livelihoods of the local communities. An IOM assessment of the county in 2017 found that 28 out of 43 assessed villages were deserted. In 2019, approximately 3,300 IDPs returned to the area from other parts of Upper Nile State, with the assistance of humanitarian actors. UNMAS assessed the area for landmines prior to the return to ensure the safety of returnees.

According to OCHA’s 2020 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 35,300 people in Baliet County are considered to have significant humanitarian needs. This represents approximately 20% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO. The county is also assessed to have one of the lowest resilience capacities in the country (HNO 2020). This is partly due to the fact that sporadic clashes and insecurity have hindered consistent humanitarian access to the area, leaving many needs unmet. Additionally, access is also a challenge during the rainy season when roads deteriorate.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

There is a history of violence and conflict in Baliet County that pre-dates the outbreak of conflict in 2013. Much of the violence has been sparked by land and border disputes in the south of the county, which borders with Nuer communities, as well as along the White Nile between Padang Dinka and Shilluk communities along the Fashoda County border. There are competing claims between the Padang Dinka and Shilluk communities over the right to settle and graze along the White Nile. Observers contend that the east bank of the White Nile was traditionally seen by both groups as an environment of shared use, rather than exclusive territory, and state demarcations and political interests over the last ten years have disrupted this balance (Craze 2019). A disarmament campaign was carried out in 2010 but failed to significantly curtail operation of militias and patterns of localized violence. A CIVIC report from 2016 documented civilian narratives which observed that the cattle raids through the national conflict had contributed to furthering inequality and insecurity in Baliet County.

Baliet County was severely affected by nearby fighting during the civil war that began in December 2013. Forces aligned with the government controlled the east bank of the White Nile, including Baliet, Akoka, Malakal, Melut and Renk Counties, and were supported by a number of Padang Dinka militia groups, including the Abu Shoq from Baliet County and the Mathloum. Initially formed to protect the Paloich oil fields, the Padang Dinka have relied on these militia groups for community defense since the outbreak of conflict in 2013. While they support and have been supported by the SPLA, these militias were not part of the formal SPLA command structure (HSBA 2016). Initially, conflict in Upper Nile State between the SPLA, the SPLA-IO, and both of their associated local militias had three principle theatres: the battle for southern Upper Nile (focused around Nasir), the battle for Renk and Wadakona in northern Upper Nile, and sustained violence around Malakal.

Caught between the three, Baliet County received a significant and sustained influx of displaced persons, especially from neighboring Malakal. Alliances between groups and the government are dynamic and shifting. Following significant SPLA victories against the SPLA–IO in the area in 2015, underlying antagonism between Padang Dinka and Shilluk communities and their militias (both formerly supporting SPLA advances) re-emerged. In May 2015, Shilluk militias defected from the side of the government, took over Malakal town, and began to march north through the state. Sexual and gender-based violence incidents were observed during fighting that occurred in 2014 (CIVIC 2016).

The transition from 10 to 28 states in 2015 only further exacerbated the conflict between the government, Padang Dinka, and Shilluk communities. The new map divided Upper Nile State into three new states – with a further two states being added in the 32-state decree in January 2017. The assignment of the east bank of the White Nile River – which is claimed by the Shilluk – to Eastern Nile state and later Central Upper Nile State was controversial. The Shilluk claim several areas in Akoka and Baliet Counties as their own, as well as Malakal and Pigi County, in Jonglei state. All of these contested regions were included in the new Eastern / Central Upper Nile State. Many Shilluk commentators perceive the decree as the latest episode in over a decade of administrative and political measures designed to force the Shilluk off the east bank of the White Nile. In 2020, South Sudan returned to the 10-state arrangement and Baliet County became a part of Upper Nile State again.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams listed in Government and UN documents: Abwong, Adong, Akotweng, Gel Achel, Kuel, Nyongrial, Wunthow
Additional payams listed by local actors: Nyongkuach (County HQ), Mijok

Roads:

• A major road runs across southern Baliet County, connecting Baliet town to Malakal town in the west and Nasir town in the east. In 2019, the Logistics Cluster listed the northern Baliet town to Malakal town as “green” and open during the dry season and with a “yellow warning” during the rainy season. The southern portion of the road, from Baliet town towards Luakpiny/Nasir was listed with a “red” road closed warning during both the rainy and dry seasons.
• A secondary road runs north south, connecting Nasser to Melut. Seasonal conditions are unknown.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing-Sites and Airstrips: None

REFERENCES

CIVIC. (2016). Those Who Could Not Run, Died”: Civilian Perspectives on the Conflict in South Sudan. Retrieved from https://civiliansinconflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CIVIC_-_South_Sudan_Civilian_Perspectives.pdf

FAO & WFP. (2018). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/ca3643EN/ca3643en.pdf

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated).

FEWSNET. (2019). Risk of farming (IPC phase 5) will persist in 2020 despite slight improvements during harvesting period. Retrieved from: https://fews.net/east-africa/south-sudan/food-security-outlook/october-2019

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved from https://iomsouthsudan.org/tracking/sites/default/publicfiles/documents/Unity_Longochuck_Atlas.pdf

IOM. (2017). South Sudan—Baliet County Village Assessment Survey. Retrieved from: https://migration.iom.int/reports/south-sudan-—-baliet-county-village-assessment-survey-25-april-—-2-may-2017

OCHA. (2019). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2020.

REACH. (2020). South Sudan: Trends in Communication Preferences and Modalities. Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/REACH_SSD_Communication-Modality-Preferences_FINAL.pdf

REPORTS on BALIET

Craze, J. (2019). Displaced and Mistreated: The Shilluk of Upper Nile in South Sudan’s Civil War, 2014-2019. Retrieved from: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/reports/HSBA-Report-South-Sudan-Shilluk.pdf

HSBA. (2011). Fighting for spoils: Armed insurgencies in Greater Upper Nile. Retrieved from: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/issue-briefs/HSBA-IB-18-Armed-insurgencies-Greater-Upper-Nile.pdf

HSBA. (2016). The Conflict in Upper Nile State. Retrieved from: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/facts-figures/south-sudan/conflict-of-2013-14/the-conflict-in-upper-nile.html

REACH. (2020). Situation Overview: Upper Nile State, South Sudan January—March 2020. Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/situation-overview-upper-nile-state-south-sudan-january-march-2020

Short, A. (2015). Cattle and Pastoralism in Greater Upper Nile Research Report

UNHCR. (2019). Report on Facilitated Return from Melut to Baliet, Upper Nile Region. Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/report-facilitated-returns-melut-baliet-upper-nile-region-upper-nile-solutions

Young, H. Cormack, Z. (2012). Pastoralism in the New Borderlands: Cross-border Migrations, Conflict and Peace-Building. Retrieved from: https://fic.tufts.edu/assets/Pastoralism-in-the-New-Borderlands.pdf