Maiwut County, Upper Nile State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 Census population: 79,462

2020 Population projection* 121,986

Ethnic groups and languages: Jikany Nuer (Gaat Jaak/Gajaak: Cie-Chaany, Cie-Wau, and Cie-Thieng)

Displacement Figures: 6,069 IDPs and 9,666 returnees (Q1 2020)

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

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Maiwut County is located in Upper Nile State. It borders Luakpiny/Nasir County to the west and Longochuk County to the north. It also shares a long eastern and southern border with Ethiopia.

The county is part of the Northeastern maize, cattle and fishing livelihood zone (FEWSNET 2018). The county runs along the White Nile’s eastern flood plain and is characterized by grasslands, forests and swamps. Maiwut County is an agro-pastoral area with approximately 70% of households involved in farming (FAO & WFP 2019), with most of the remainder engaged in raising livestock, and fishing. The main crops grown include maize, sorghum, cowpeas, pumpkins and okra and the main livestock reared are cattle, goats, and chicken. Agriculture is rain-fed with the harvesting period occurring in March.

The Jekow River follows along the international border between Kigile payam and Ethiopia to the east and eventually feeds into the Sobat River to the west. Fishing in the Sobat, its ponds and tributaries is largely seasonal and generally occurs during the rainy season between June and November. Maiwut County also traditionally witnesses seasonal migrations of Falata pastoralists and cattle into the area from Sudan through Banshowa payam of Maban County, in search of water and pasture during the dry season.

Prior to outbreak of the civil war, the FEWSNET reported Maiwut County to have a low risk of food insecurity in 2013 because of the aforementioned diversified livelihoods. However, the violence that erupted in December 2013 disrupted the farming cycle and livelihoods for most people in the area. By 2016, food security projections placed Maiwut County at Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels. Disputes over land in 2014 between Mabanese/Chai and Gajaak, and in 2016 among Gajaak clans (Cie-Chaany and Cie-Wau), made it difficult to cultivate during the planting season, which was compounded during conflict, natural disasters and when IDPs and refugees return to the area. National cattle movements were also significantly disrupted by the violence, with large-scale and long-distance displacement of livestock from the conflict-affected states. In 2015, FAO reported that abnormal movements continue, with herders traveling east from Nasir County into Maiwut and towards Ethiopia. Since 2016, the food security situation has since worsened and the county is predicted to be at Emergency levels (IPC Phase 4) of food insecurity for the first half of 2020.

Trade is mainly oriented towards markets in Nasir, Malakal and Gambela (Ethiopia). Market supplies and trade in the county have decreased significantly over time, which has led to higher rates of inflation of market goods and contributed to the high levels of food insecurity (FEWSNET 2019)

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

The county headquarters is Maiwut Town located in Kigile payam. In 2019, Aqua Africa noted that half of the water supply for Maiwut Town was obtained from rivers and hand-dug wells, which increased the risk for water-borne diseases among the population.

According to the 2020 Humanitarian Needs Overview, Maiwut County has over 96,000 people with significant humanitarian needs, particularly in the areas of protection and WASH. This represents approximately 84% of the county’s total population according to population estimates listed in the HNO.

Fighting between government forces and youth militias in mid-2019 have led to displacement of an estimated 33,000 people and hindered service delivery (HNO 2020). As a result, Maiwut County was one of three counties categorized with the highest-level of access constraints due to active hostilities, threats of violence against humanitarian personal and assets and the overall physical environment. In 2019, ten aid workers had to be relocated due to localized insecurity, which hindered humanitarian services in the area.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

The proximity of Maiwut County to both Ethiopia and Sudan has made it vulnerable to a number of inter-related conflict dynamics. Conflict drivers include cattle raiding between resident groups and seasonal movement of Mabanese/Chai from neighbouring Maban County, Falata from Sudan and other Gajaak Nuer clans from across the border in Ethiopia. Community consultations held in 2012 identified unemployment, lack of access to clean water, competition for fertile land, and the cross-border flow of small arms as the main drivers of local insecurity (UNDP 2012). These tensions have been particularly high along the borders with Sudan and Ethiopia at Katenbuoi boma and Pagak payam respectively. The county’s proximity to oil reserves at Adar and Longochuk has also made it a point of contention, with reports of oil workers being kidnapped at Adar in April 2017.

Maiwut has also hosted significant numbers of IDPs and refugees, which has contributed to tensions between these groups and host communities. UNMISS reported that insufficient infrastructure to absorb refugees coming from Sudan and Ethiopia was one reason behind these tensions. An assessment carried out in 2019 found that 16% of returnees and IDPs reported tensions with the host community in Maiwut Town (Aqua Africa 2019). Additionally, 89% of IDPs and returnees do not have sustainable livelihoods, and as a result rely on wild foods to supplement their diets, and casual labour to generate income, which drives competition for jobs.

Maiwut’s population has aligned mostly with the SPLA-IO, and fighting between the SPLA and SPLA-IO throughout southern Upper Nile State was one of the principle theatres of violence in the county since the outbreak of fighting in late 2013. Attacks included set-piece engagements, sexual and gender-based violence, as well looting. During the first four months of the civil war, the neighboring Nasir County was the loci for the mobilization of the Nuer ‘White Armies’ forces, 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 often accompanied by prophets embedded within the groups. The UN Security Council noted that Maiwut served as an important site for the flow of weapons and food for opposition forces from 2014-2016.

The movement of SPLA forces north and east from Nasir town towards Maiwut and Longochuk Counties as part of an offensive against SPLA-IO forces in March 2015 led to the destruction of many villages in Maiwut County. SPLA and SPLA-IO positions in the southern Upper Nile have remained relatively stable since August 2015, however there have been several significant flare-ups of violence and displacement in the last five years. The most notable escalation of violence was the SPLA offensive on Pagak in Maiwut County in July/August 2017, which lasted for six weeks. While pro-government forces managed to capture Pagak and the lucrative Palogue/Paloich oil field in the oil-rich Melut Basin, given the local population’s hostility towards government forces, it was difficult for the SPLA to actually hold the southern counties, including Maiwut. As recently as 2019, clashes between government forces and hold-out opposition groups, including youth militias, were reported, despite the signing of the R-ARCCS in 2018. Maiwut County also hosts a cantonment site in Turuu.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams listed in Government and UN documents: Kigila/Kigile (Maiwut Town is County HQ), Maiwut, Jekow, Jotoma/Jotome, Maiwut, Olang/Uleng, Pagak
Additional Payams listed by local actors: Wuor, Malek, and Turuu
Roads:

• A major road connects Maiwut town southeast through Pagak payam to Gambela in Ethiopia and northwest to Melut (through Mathiang and Guel-Guk). In both the rainy and dry seasons, the Logistics Cluster gave the road a “yellow road warning”.
• Additionally, the river flowing along Maiwut’s southern border at Turuu payam serves as an important route for riverine traffic, eventually flowing into the Sobat River.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing-Sites and Airstrips: None
Other Heli-landing sites and airstrips reported by local actors: Longochuk, Jekow (Pilual), Maiwut town, Pagak, and Urieng

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).

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_Maiwut_Atlas.pdf

IRNA Report – Maiwut: Assessing Humanitarian needs of the returning population. Retrieved from: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/south-sudan/assessment/irna-report-maiwut

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

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 MAIWUT

Aqua Africa. (2019). Maiwut South Sudan: Household Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Survey. Retrieved from http://aqua-africa.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/WASH-Survey-Final-Report.pdf

Craze, J. (2013). Dividing lines: Grazing and conflict along the Sudan-South Sudan Border. Retrieved from: https://gsdrc.org/document-library/dividing-lines-grazing-and-conflict-along-the-sudan-south-sudan-border

Hagen, A. (2013). Livelihoods, Land Acquisitions and Legal Pluralism in Maiwut County, South Sudan. Retrieved from http://www.dcr-africa.org/Uploaded_files/Zelf/research-brief-7.b312fa.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

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. Retrieved from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6abdec40f0b61a22792fd5/484__Livestock_and_Conflict_in_South_Sudan.pdf

UNSC. (2019). Letter dated 20 November from the Panel of Experts on South Sudan addressed to the President of the Security Council. Retrieved from: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2019_897.pdf

Young, J. (2016). Popular Struggles and Elite Co-optation: The Nuer White Army in South Sudan. Retrieved from: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/working-papers/HSBA-WP41-White-Army.pdf

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