Melut County, Upper Nile State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 Census population: 49,242

2020 Population projection*: 125,533

Ethnic groups and languages: Dinka (Ageer/Geer)

Displacement Figures: 30,697 IDPs and 12,840 returnees (Q1 2020)

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

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Melut County is located in the center of Upper Nile State. The White Nile flows alongside Melut’s western border with Manyo County, with other borders with Renk County to the north, Maban County to the east, Akoka and Malakal Counties to the south and Fashoda County to the west.

The county is classified in the Northern sorghum and livestock livelihood zone. (FEWSNET 2018). Historically, pastoralism and agro-pastoralism are the pillars of livelihood in the county. The county’s main economic activities include fishing, agriculture, charcoal making, gum production, and raising livestock and the main crops grown are millet and sorghum. People keep cattle and move them seasonally, according to the availability of pastures and water. The FAO estimates that approximately 40% of households were engaged in farming in Melut County in 2019 (FAO & WFP 2019). It is one of the few counties in the country where rain-fed, mechanized cereal (or sorghum) production has been practiced on a large scale, although fighting and instability since 2013 have severely curtailed these operations. Many farmers have switched from growing sorghum to simsim (sesame), as they can sell it for a higher price to Sudanese traders. Land available for cultivation has reduced over time due to build-up of infrastructure related to the oil field as well as pollution. Crop yields have also been negatively impacted by decreasing rainfall patterns and longer dry periods in the area.

Food security for the Melut County has alternated between Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) since the onset of violence in December 2013. The IPC projects that a Crisis level of food insecurity will remain throughout the first half of 2020. National cattle movements were significantly disrupted by the violence, with large-scale and long-distance displacement of livestock from the conflict-affected states. Abnormal livestock movements into Melut County prompted by insecurity have put additional stress on natural resources and contributed to the outbreak of livestock disease in the area. Pastoralist groups throughout Upper Nile State reported significant decreases in their livestock populations.

Prior to independence, the main market for surplus grains grown through mechanized cereal production was Sudan; however, fighting in the border areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile saw a reorientation in Upper Nile State towards Juba and southern markets. The main local market towns for the sale and trade of goods within the county include Melut town and Paloich. Following the closure of border with Sudan, the supply of goods in Melut and Paloich markets reduced, leading to the establishment of new trade routes, including from Melut and Kodok towns through Mageanis of Manyo County; from Juba to Malakal and Paloich; and from Gambella (Ethiopia) via Nasir to Malakal.

Melut County includes the Paloich oil field. The PetroDar Operating Company’s (PDOC) workforce mostly consists of Sudanese and Asian (mainly from China, India, and Malaysia) employees. This results partly from the fact that prior to independence, PDOC supported Sudanese (rather than South Sudanese) workers in training to become engineers. Riots in 2006 led to South Sudanese being hired and a union was formed for workers.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

The county HQ is Melut Town. A road connecting Malakal-Paloich-Guelguk-Longochuk and Maiwut was under construction in 2019. The presence of the Paloich oil field supported the local economy by drawing businesses and trade to the area and also led to the establishment of schools and healthcare facilities through corporate responsibility initiatives. However, the oil extraction has also had negative impacts well – water sources and land used for habitation and cultivation are believed to have been polluted, with unsafe levels of mercury ad manganese having been detected. While no studies have established causation to date, communities in the area have reported an increase in infants both with birth defects as well as fertility issues among women (PAX 2014).

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) for 2020, there are over 69,000 people in the county with significant humanitarian needs. This represents approximately 22% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO. Residents of Melut County have experienced multiple displacements throughout the conflict, and have also hosted IDPs fleeing from Malakal, Baliet and other areas. A 2016 intentions survey conducted with IDPs from Melut indicated that those who have been displaced would prefer to move to areas where their own ethnic groups were present (DRC 2016). However, insecurity and a lack of money were preventing some households from relocating at the time. In 2019, humanitarian organizations conducted a return exercise in which 3,324 IDPs were assisted in returning from Melut to Baliet. Forced migration patterns have also made the county vulnerable to disease outbreaks; in 2016, cases of kala-azar were reported, and in 2019 Melut County was one of several locations reporting an outbreak of measles.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Historically, conflict drivers in Melut County include disputes over control of land and resources, displacement, tax disputes as well as pollution from the oil field. Since 2005, Dinka and Shilluk communities have contested areas throughout Upper Nile, including in Melut, frequently with reference to distant historical claims (Craze 2019). Tensions have also arisen between Dinka of Melut and Akoka and neighbouring Nuer and Burun communities, and with pastoralist Falata from Sudan that migrate into South Sudan during the dry season. Community consultations in 2012 found that these tensions had been driven by environmental pollution, competition over clean water, poor road network, and border and land disputes (UNDP 2012).

The county’s oil fields and central position within Upper Nile State made it a strategic location during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) and more recent South Sudanese civil war (2013-2018). At the start of the civil war in December 2013, the government risked losing control of the Paloich oil field. Almost all SPLA fighters in the area at the time were Nuer, and most of them immediately defected to the SPLA–IO. To supplement the 1st Division in Renk, the government sent forces from elsewhere in South Sudan to Upper Nile, as well as drawing on local militias that were created in 2014. This included the oil defense force comprised mostly of Abialang Dinka of Renk County (and other Dinka clans from neighbouring counties), created in 2014 specifically to guarantee control of Paloich, as well as Shilluk militias in the area. All of the militias operated outside of the SPLA’s formal military command structure, and throughout 2014 and 2015, Melut County saw some of the most intense fighting of the civil war.

Following the defeat of the SPLA–IO in the area in 2015, underlying antagonism between Padang Dinka and Shilluk communities and their militias re-emerged. Clashes between these militias intensified in early 2015 and in May 2015, Shilluk SPLA Commander Olonyi and the Agwelek Forces defected from the government, citing SPLA alignment with Padang Dinka forces. Olonyi’s forces took control of Malakal town, Melut town, and Magok – and began marching towards Paloich – before the SPLA 1st Division halted their advance.

Between 2016 and 2017, communal clashes continued between Dinka Ager of Melut against the Burun of Maban and Gajaak Nuer of Longochuk over land at Kilo and Guelguk. With the implicit backing of the SPLA/SSPDF forces, the Dinka of Melut started to settle in both areas despite longstanding claims by the Burun/Mabanese and Gajaak Nuer. Since 2018, the county has remained relatively stable.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Melut (County HQ), Bimachuk, Galdora, Paloich, Panhomdit, Wunamum
Roads:

• Four main roads intersect at Paloich. Connections include: Melut town to Malakal and to Nasir and or to Bor; Melut town to Renk into Sudan; Paloich into Guekguk- Longochuk into Maiwut into Ethiopia. The Logistcs Cluster listed all the northern, southern and western roads as “green” and passable in the dry season, but labeled the majority of roads with either a “yellow” road warning or a “red” road closure (in particular, the eastern branch), during the rainy season.
• In addition, the White Nile flows along Melut’s western boarder and is an important source of riverine transport to Malakal, Ethiopia and Sudan.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing-Sites and Airstrips: Palioch

REFERENCES

DRC. (2016). Melut PoC Intentions Survey—Factsheet 1. Demographics and Perception of Security in Melut. Retrieved from: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/assessments/is_melut_poc_-_factsheet_0.pdf

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).

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

PAX. (2014). Scrutiny of South Sudan’s Oil Industry: Community Relations, Labour Practices and Impact on Land Use Patterns. Retrieved from: https://www.paxforpeace.nl/publications/all-publications/scrutiny-of-south-sudans-oil-industry

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 MELUT

BICC. (2018). Brief 48: Oil Investment and Conflict in Upper Nile State, South Sudan. Retrieved from: https://www.bicc.de/uploads/tx_bicctools/BICC_brief_48.pdf

Craze, J. (2019). Displaced and Immiserated: The Shilluk of Upper Nile in South Sudan’s Civil War, 2014-19. Retrieved from http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/reports/HSBA-Report-South-Sudan-Shilluk.pdf

FAO/WFP (March 2018) Special Report Page 31. Crop and Food security assessment to South Sudan. Retrieved from: http://www.wfp.org/food-security/reports/CFSAM

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

Liol, C. & Ramadan, Z. (2017). Genderizing War: The Impact of the Civil War on the Women of Upper Nile State in South Sudan. Retrieved from: http://erepo.usiu.ac.ke/handle/11732/3590;jsessionid=0FC06616FAF30FA2C5551927B283D68B

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

SWG/ICWG. (2019). Report on Facilitated Returns 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