Tambura County, Western Equatoria State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 55,365
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 59,088
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 119,333

Ethnic groups: Zande, Balanda Bor

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 86,147 IDPs (+85,344 Q1 2020) and 7,225 returnees (-17,172 Q1 2020)

IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Crisis (Phase 3); IPC Projections: December 2022 to March 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Tambura County is located in Western Equatoria State. It borders Nagero County to the north-east and Ezo County to the south and east. It also borders Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State (Raja and Wau Counties) to the north and the Central African Republic (CAR) to the west.

The county falls within the western plains groundnuts, sesame and sorghum livelihoods zone (FEWSNET 2018). The main crops cultivated are groundnuts, sesame, sorghum, maize, cassava, pumpkins and okra. Similar to other parts of Western Equatoria, Tambura is a part of South Sudan’s greenbelt, with fertile land ideal for cultivation – in 2018 it was estimated that 90% of households practiced agriculture (FAO & WFP 2018). However, in line with regional trends, agricultural livelihoods have been impacted by insecurity, which have prevented Tambura residents from accessing their land during key periods of planting and harvesting. This is reflected in a pronounced decline in the estimates of households engaged in agriculture, which had fallen to 70% in 2021 (which accompanied the outbreak of conflict in the county). Gross cereal yields were estimated to be 0.8 tonnes per hectare in 2021, increasing to 1.0 tonne per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2022; FAO/WFP 2023).

Tambura has historically been a key location on the main transport routes connecting Yambio and Wau that run along the western part of South Sudan. This has meant that small businesses are typically able to import goods for sale and even export commercial produce from the county during times of stability, especially to neighboring CAR via the border crossing at Source Yubu. However, insecurity since 2015 has led to restrictions in the import of goods with inflation, price fluctuations and shortages of staples leading to decreased market access.

In November 2022, Tambura County was determined to be experiencing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity. This is predicted to be maintained until at least July 2023. Tambura’s proximity to the Bahr el-Ghazal region and migratory routes to west Africa has also meant that cattle herders from those areas at times travel across the county to access water and grazing land, leading to localized tensions with agricultural Zande and Balanda communities.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

The county’s headquarters is located in Tambura town in Tambura Payam. As a key colonial district, Tambura has historically possessed a dense concentration of infrastructure and services, largely due to a significant missionary presence. The town has a big market relative to that of towns in other counties of Western Equatoria. Its position along key trade and transportation routes has allowed small businesses to develop. In the latter half of 2021, Tambura Town market closed for five months as a result of widespread violence and insecurity. In November, the SSPDF presence deployed to the market allowed for a stabilization in the security situation and greater confidence among traders which led to the reopening in early November 2021.

Tambura County is home to eleven (11) Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, thirty-nine (39) primary schools and four (4) secondary schools located within Tambura and South Yubu payams, including Tambura Secondary located in its namesake payam. The number of schools in Tambura County in 2022 has declined noticeably compared to 2021, when Tambura was reported to have eighteen (18) ECD centres, fifty (50) primary school and six (6) secondary schools. Mupoi Payam hosts the first Catholic Church built by the Comboni missionaries in 1912. Since then, the Comboni missionaries have played a significant role in Western Equatoria, in terms of supporting schools, higher education institutions and local healthcare facilities. The secondary schools serve the larger area as many parts of Western Equatoria only have primary schools, however many schools were temporarily turned into shelters to host the increase of IDPs caused by recent fighting.

Tambura County was reported to have thirty (30) health facilities including twenty-nine (29) functional health facilities, among them twenty-five (25) PHCUs, three (3) PHCCs and one (1) hospital in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 3.15 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 1.26 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO, which ranked Tambura as among the ten counties with the highest ratios of PHCUs/person in South Sudan. Tambura County Hospital was reported to be moderately functional at the time.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Overview for 2023, there are 89,500 people with humanitarian needs in the county (a significant increase from 30,100 in 2021), which represents 75% of the estimated population of Tambura County reported in the HNO. Nearly 49,588 of those with significant needs are IDPs. The deterioration in humanitarian conditions in Tambura reflects the outbreak of conflict in the county across 2021, which displaced approximately 80,000 people and resulted in the deaths of at least 440 people (Amnesty International 2021; UNMISS HRD 2022). Whilst the conflict took the outward appearance of being fought between parts of the Balanda Bor and Zande communities, this occurred despite the absence of any deep-seated tensions between the two communities, with analysts instead attributing the onset of conflict to rivalries among political and military elites with links to Western Equatoria State (CSRF 2022; The New Humanitarian 2022).

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

The location of Tambura on the borders between Western Equatoria and both Western Bahr el-Ghazal and Central African Republic, meant that it has been impacted by conflict in a multitude of ways. Insecurity associated with seasonal movements of pastoralists and irregular movements of armed groups – such as the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) – along the borders with DRC/CAR led to the growth of community defence groups known as ‘arrow boys’ in Western Equatoria in the period following the CPA in 2005. At various points in time the ‘arrow boys’ collaborated with and substituted for the army, state and central government, including in Tambura County.

The spread of the civil war into Western Equatoria from 2015 onwards led to a period of sustained insecurity and displacement. In this context, the ‘arrow boys’ became absorbed into the conflict and seen as an important mechanism to protect against attacks from both pastoralist groups and perceived mistreatment by the SPLA (Schomerus and Taban 2017). Conflict between government and opposition armed forces – which had partly incorporated many former ‘arrow boys’ – in neighbouring Tambura County peaked in 2018 and led to the displacement of individuals both out of and into Tambura (REACH 2019b). Similar effects were observed from IDPs fleeing conflict between government and opposition forces across Western Bahr el-Ghazal. This led to increased pressure on local resources and required the coordination of humanitarian intervention to support the new population. Additionally, insecurity greatly restricted freedom of movement along major trade and transportation routes, which were key to the local economy. Access denials were recorded in 2016 and 2020, which has made it difficult for UNMISS and humanitarian agencies to assess the needs in Tambura, as well as provide sustained assistance to the dynamic population. By 2017, the ‘arrow boys’ in Tambura County as elsewhere had been mostly either demobilized, absorbed into new formal armed groups that arose in Western Equatoria (such as the SSNLM or SPLA-IO), defeated or intimidated into submission by groups with access to greater resources and firepower.

In addition to armed activities resulting in heightened insecurity, internal boundary disputes dating back to the late 1990s between Tambura and Nagero counties have often resulted in heightened tensions between the area’s two major ethnic groups – the (A)Zande and Belanda. Numerous community dialogue initiatives and social cohesion programs between the two groups have been initiated, but have made limited progress and struggled to get political support (Sudan Tribune 2009).

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Tambura (County Headquarters), Mupoi, Source Yubu

UN OCHA 2020 map for Tambura County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-tambura-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

  • A primary road runs westward to Wau (Western Bar el Ghazal State), and eastward to Juba (Central Equatoria State) via Yambio Town. During the rainy season of 2022, the section of the road running north to Wau was designated ‘passable with difficulties’, whereas the eastern parts of the road were also deemed ‘passable with difficulties’ until Maridi, and thereafter passable all the way to Juba. The same road was considered passable during the dry season of 2023, excepting the stretch of road running north to Wau, which was designated ‘passable with difficulties’.
  • A secondary road connects Tambura to Source Yubu to the south, whereupon it continues east to Ezo County. Seasonal road conditions are unknown.
  • A secondary road runs along the western portion of the county and connects Tambura to Deim Zubeir in Western Bahr el Ghazal State. Seasonal road conditions are unknown.

UNHAS-Recognised Heli and Fixed-Wing Airplane Airstrips: None
MAF-Recognised Airstrips: Tambura

REFERENCES

Amnesty International. (2021). South Sudan: Survivors describe killings, mass displacement and terror amid fighting in Western Equatoria. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Eye Radio. (2019). Tombura gov. accused of extra-judicial killing. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Eye Radio. (2021a). Nunu, Zamoi among politicians fueling violence in Tombura – official. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Eye Radio. (2021b). Army ‘fuels’ Tambura ‘massacre’ – Sooka. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

FAO/WFP. (2023). South Sudan 2022 Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) Summary of findings. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated). Retrieved 10 July 2023.

The New Humanitarian. (2022). How South Sudan’s peace deal sparked conflict in a town spared by war. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). South Sudan: Tambura conflict. Flash Update No. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

REACH. (2019). South Sudan Crossborder Population Movement Dynamics Brief. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

South Sudan News Network (SSNN). (2020). SPLA-IO officer killed in SSPDF attack in Western Equatoria. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2009). Western Equatoria seeks peaceful settlement to Tambura-Nagero’s row. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNICEF. (2021). South Sudan: Tambura Conflict Displacement. October 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNMISS. (2019). Historic moment in the Tambura area as government and opposition members come together for peace. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNMISS Human Rights Division/HRD. (2022). Attacks on Civilians in Tambura County, June – September 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

REPORTS on TAMBURA

CSRF. (2021). Tambura: Violence, Displacement and Response. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Kindersley, N. and Øystein, R. (2017). Civil War on Shoestring: Rebellion in South Sudan’s Equatoria Region. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

MSF. (2022). Meeting mental health needs in the aftermath of violence. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2016). Conflict in Western Equatoria: Describing events through 17 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNMISS. (2018). Violation and Abuses Against Civilians in Gbudue and Tambura States (Western Equatoria) April-August 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNMISS. (2022). Attacks on civilians in Tambura county, June – September 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.