Luakpiny/Nasir County, Upper Nile State
DEMOGRAPHY
2008 Census population: 210,002
2020 Population projection*: 260,703
Ethnic groups and languages: Nuer (Jikany)
Displacement Figures: 4,636 IDPs and 17,061 returnees (Q1 2020)
January 2020 IPC Projections: January 2020 – Crisis (Phase 3); February to April 2020 – Emergency (Phase 4); May to July – Emergency (Phase 4)
ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS
Luakpiny/Nasir County is located in Upper Nile State. It borders Ethiopia to the southeast, Maiwut County to the east, and Baliet and Ulang Counties to the west. The Pibor and Baro Rivers intersect at the county’s southern border and flow into the Sobat River, which flows past Nasir town. All three rivers serve as major riverine transportation routes.
Luakpiny/Nasir is part of the Eastern flood plains and the Sobat River Basin livelihood zones. The bulk of the county is characterized by seasonal lakes and marshlands. The entire Sobat Basin is flood-prone during the rainy season but provides excellent pasture during the dry season and is largely an agro-pastoral area. An estimated 50% of households engage in farming as their primary livelihood (FAO & WFP 2019), with the remainder made up mostly by those rearing livestock and fishing. Unlike most other areas in South Sudan, the staple cereal in Luakpiny/Nasir and neighboring counties is maize. Other crops grown include sorghum, cowpeas, pumpkins, and okra. The main livestock reared are cattle, goats, and chickens. Households supplement livelihoods by selling charcoal, firewood and grass, collecting wild food, and fishing. Fishing from the Sobat River and its ponds and tributaries is seasonal. Normal flooding of the river provides excellent pasture during the dry season above Luakpiny/Nasir County. Pastoralists from Sudan traditionally migrate seasonally into Luakpiny/Nasir County in search of this water and pasture.
Food insecurity for Luakpiny/Nasir County has alternated between Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels in recent years. While IPC projections placed the county at Crisis levels (IPC Phase 3) of food insecurity in early 2016, this is projected to change throughout 2020, when the county is estimated to go from Crisis (IPC Phase 3) to Emergency levels (IPC Phase 4) by mid-year. IPC projections also estimate that malnutrition rates will go up for the county. The outbreak of civil war in December 2013 and systemic instability have compounded recurrent drivers of food insecurity such as flooding, drought, pests and intercommunal conflict. Clashes and displacement have occurred at key planting times, which have diminished local food sources. Luakpiny/Nasir has also hosted IDPs from other areas, such as Malakal, Ulang and Juba, which has led to increased household sizes among host communities and placed additional stress on the food supply. Other drivers of food insecurity include the depletion of livestock as assets, which has limited the ability of households to sell these assets to purchase food, and the elevated cost of importing food from Ethiopia. As a result, foraging for wild foods or turning to alternative ways of generating income some as charcoal making have become common coping mechanisms when local food supplies are low.
As a result, FEWSNET reported in that since 2013 there has been an increased reliance on markets for food supplies. Trade is primarily oriented towards markets in Luakpiny/Nasir, Malakal and Juba, though the county also has access to markets in Gambella in Ethiopia. After the outbreak of fighting in 2013 and through periods of continued instability, many foreign traders (Sudanese, Ethiopian and Ugandan) left the area, which meant people had to travel long distances to Ethiopia to procure cereals, sold at inflated prices.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES
The county HQ is Nasir town. Severe annual flooding has limited sustained development of infrastructure and services for the county. Veterinary services are scare due to the minimal infrastructure and services available.
The inflow of IDPs from Malakal, Juba and Ulang into Luakpiny/Nasir County – who have lived mostly amongst the host community – have placed increased pressure on the limited services available and spread of livestock diseases driven in part by cattle herds that IDPs brought with them. Residents of Luakpiny/Nasir have also fled to Ethiopia as refugees when clashes were particularly volatile in the county.
According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2020, there are over 182,000 people with significant humanitarian needs in Luakpiny/Nasir County, which represents approximately 281% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO. This is estimated to be one of the highest levels in South Sudan, with needs particularly prevalent in shelter and non-food items, protection, child protection and WASH. The fact that the projected number of people in need is over 100% may reflect the reality that population projections for Luakpiny/Nasir were too low and/or that many of those in need in Luakpiny/Nasir are IDPs/refugees displaced from neighbouring areas or returnees that were not present in the county at the time of the last census on which projections are based. Furthermore, the county has played a significant role in aid operations, as it was a key location for Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) from 1989 to 2005. Due to its location, it also received a number of refugees from Ethiopia leading up to independence.
CONFLICT DYNAMICS
Luakpiny/Nasir County, and the port in Nasir town in particular, is located along the strategically important Sobat riverine traffic, which eventually flows into the White Nile. The town is symbolically important for the SPLA-IO as it was where Riek Machar announced his 1991 split from the SPLA and formed the SPLA-Nasir faction during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Similar to other counties, there are significant conflict drivers in the county, which is reflected in local violence, cattle raiding and tension between local communities and oil companies operating nearby. Community consultations carried out in 2012 found that drivers include competition over land, access to water, and border disputes that determine taxation rights with neighbouring counties (UNDP 2012). This competition has taken place between the resident Jikany Nuer and Lou Nuer, who migrate into Luakpiny/Nasir County during the dry season. The similar seasonal movement of Arab pastoralists from Sudan – known locally as ‘Falat’ – into Luakpiny/Nasir County has also been a source of tension. These tensions have been exacerbated by environmental pollution caused by the presence of oil companies, which has contributed to the scarcity of clean water, degradation of local roads, damaged farmland and been associated with diseases among local population and livestock.
Following the outbreak of the South Sudanese civil war in December 2013, Nasir was a loci of White Armies mobilization, which is a fluid and de-centralized process, largely (but not only) dependent on community protection needs, with its leaders selected by its members, and prophets often embedded within the groups. In May 2014, the SPLA seized control of Nasir town and its immediate environs and has maintained that control since. Despite multiple campaigns, the local population’s hostility towards government forces made it extremely difficult for the SPLA to exert control over rural areas in the county, which the SPLA-IO control. The violence between the army and the local population created challenges for UNMISS troops stationed in Nasir. UNMISS occasionally allowed civilians (less than one hundred) to shelter on its base.
Clashes between SPLA and SPLA-IO occurred throughout the civil war (i.e. Ketbek in January/March 2017 and around Nasir town in February 2018), and have led to the large-scale displacement of populations from Luakpiny/Nasir County to neighbouring counties and Ethiopia. Large numbers of civilians in Nasir town have also relocated to the SPLA-IO controlled stronghold of Mandeng to the north-east. However, by early 2019 humanitarian organizations were observing a large number of returns to the county, following the signing of the peace agreement in 2018, as well as insecurity occurring in Ethiopian refugee camps which became a push factor. In December 2019, CTSAMVM reported that clashes between the government and civilians occurred over a barge originating from Luakpiny/Nasir to Maiwut that was transporting supplies for opposition forces.
ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS
Payams: Nasir (County HQ), Dingkar, Jikmir, Kiech, Kuerenge-Ke, Mading, Maker, Roam
Roads:
- A series of major and secondary roads run along the Sobat River, connecting Nasir town to Ethiopia in the east and to Malakal (through Baliet) in the west. The Logistics Cluster have given the road a “red road closed” warning in both the rainy and dry season.
- A secondary north-south route intersects at Nasir, heading south along the Pibor River to Akobo, and north to Paloich and Melut.
UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing-Sites and Airstrips: Jikmir
REFERENCES
FAO & WFP. (2019). 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).
IRNA. (2014). IRNA Report: Mandeng County, Upper Nile 20-21 May 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/assessments/20-21.05.2014_IRNA_Mandeng_Final.pdf
OCHA. (2019). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2020.
UN. (2020). January-March 2020. Monitoring Review South Sudan. Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ss_20200508_q1_monitoring_report_final.pdf
UNDP. (2012). Community Consultation Report: Upper Nile State, South Sudan. May 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/southsudan/library/Documents/CSAC%20Reports/UNDP-SS-UpperNile-consult-12.pdf
REPORTS on LUAKPINY/NASIR
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
IRNA. (2017). IRNA: Jikmir, Upper Nile (28-29 January 2017). Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/inter-agency-rapid-needs-assessment-report-jikmir-upper-nile-28-29-january-2017
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
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