Yambio County, Western Equatoria State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 152,257
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 138,976
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 168,858

Ethnic groups: Zande

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 8,998 IDPs (+5,638 Q1 2020) and 52,937 returnees (+26,963 Q1 2020)

IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Stressed (Phase 2); IPC Projections: December 2022 to March 2023 – Stressed (Phase 2); April to July 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Yambio County is located in Western Equatoria State. It borders Nzara County to the west and Ibba County to the east. It also borders Lakes State (Wulu County) to the north and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the south.

The county falls within the equatorial maize and cassava livelihoods zone (FEWSNET 2018). Similar to much of the Equatoria region, residents of Yambio County are primarily agrarians – in 2018, it was estimated that 60% of households engaged in agriculture (FAO/WFP 2018). This estimate had increased to 80% by 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022). Cattle-rearing is not common although small-scale animal husbandry (including goats, pigs, ducks) is widely practiced. Cyclical prolonged dry spells affect the area regularly, delaying the growing season and negatively impacting food production (FEWSNET 2018). Gross cereal yields were estimated to be 1.35 tonnes per hectare in 2021, increasing to 1.4 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2022; FAO/WFP 2023).

In addition to agriculture, Yambio and the broader area of Western Equatoria is known for its rich natural resources, particularly teak. Although significant profits are channeled towards armed groups and companies affiliated with groups in Juba, some have allowed local institutions to be supported, even when adequate financial resources were not received from the national level. Much of the teak in the area is exported to other countries through Uganda. The value of the teak trade is unknown. While logging and various other casual jobs along the informal forest-product supply-chain are viable livelihood opportunities, the trade is defined by widespread environmental degradation and exploitation of labor (ADB 2013).

Yambio is an important market hub for the western part of the country. However, all major trade routes connecting Yambio to Juba have closed periodically during periods of increased insecurity since 2015. Traders have found alternate routes moving goods from Uganda through DRC and crossing into South Sudan nearer to Yambio Town. However, these detours over more difficult terrain have severely limited the availability of basic commodities including food stocks within the market, and resulted in an increase in the price of foods and negative coping strategies (REACH 2019b).

In November 2022, Yambio County was classified as experiencing Stressed (IPC Phase 2) levels of food insecurity, making it the second least food insecure county in Western Equatoria State after Nzara County. However, food security levels are predicted to decline to Stressed (IPC Phase 2) level conditions from December 2022 until March 2023, and are projected as deteriorating to Crisis-level conditions from April 2023 to July 2023.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

The county’s headquarters are located in Yambio Town Payam, which also serves as the capital of Western Equatoria State. While Yambio County was not the site of large-scale fighting following the initial outbreak of conflict in 2013, changes in conflict dynamics in the area from 2015 onwards resulted in displacement to urban areas where key infrastructure and services are located, putting additional pressure on access to such facilities (REACH 2019a).

Yambio County is home to a variety of educational institutions. Yambio boasts thirty-one (31) Early Childhood Development centres, ninety-nine (99) primary schools and fifteen (15) secondary schools (all but one of which are located in Yambio Town Payam). The town also hosts the Comboni Teacher Training College, one of only a handful in South Sudan, which attracts students from far-reaching areas of the country including the Nuba Mountains and continued to operate throughout the conflict.

Yambio County was reported to have fifty-nine (59) health facilities including forty-nine (49) functional health facilities, among them forty (40) PHCUs, eight (8) 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 ranks Yambio as among the ten counties with the highest ratios of PHCUs/person in South Sudan. Yambio State Hospital was reported to be moderately functional.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022, there are 132,765 people in the county with humanitarian needs (up significantly from 81,500 in 2021), which accounts for approximately 78% of the estimated population of Yambio County reported in the HNO. In 2020, Yambio was listed by the HNO as one of fourteen counties in “extreme” need of SGBV services. Yambio is home to refugees from across the region with some 5,000 people living in Makpandu Refugee Camp, 45 km east of Yambio Town. Refugees from DRC, Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Eritrea, among other countries, have been living in the camp since 2013 with more refugees continuing to arrive throughout 2020 and 2021.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Prior to independence, Yambio and other parts of Western Equatoria state experienced attacks from the Lord’s Resistance Army which infiltrated the area by crossing the border from neighboring countries. This led to displacement northwards, particularly from border areas such as Gangura, Ezo and Yambio towards Nzara and other counties. The insecurity presented by the threat of the LRA 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 Yambio County.

Similar to most of the Equatoria region, Yambio was initially not the site of large-scale fighting following the outbreak of civil war in December 2013. However, in 2015 these dynamics began to change. Tension in the county began to emerge initially between cattle-keeping communities from Lakes State and indigenous communities who are predominantly farmers. The tensions escalated with the involvement of ‘arrow boys’ supporting local farmers to defend their land against perceived encroachment by cattle-keepers. Over time the SPLA became involved in these clashes and were perceived as lending their support to cattle-keeping communities. This was further exacerbated by the firing and replacement of the widely-supported State Governor in 2015, and contributed to the ‘arrow boys’ declaration of allegiance to the SPLA/IO (Amnesty 2016, SAS 2016).

Opposition forces did not occupy major towns such as Yambio, but instead relied on the cover of forests in Western Equatoria to serve as bases. However, civilians on the outskirts of Yambio experienced attacks, primarily in the form of looting and asset taxation. This led to displacement into the urban areas of the county, primarily Yambio Town, where many IDPs began to reside in local institutions such as St. Mary’s Parish. The change in conflict dynamics in Yambio County also led to a shift from development projects to humanitarian aid from 2015 onwards, as more aid organizations began setting up operations in the area. During a flare-up of conflict in mid-2015, residents of Yambio attempted to seek safety at the UNMISS base. However, the base refused entry to IDPs fleeing conflict (Stimson Center 2015). Yambio has also been the site of significant child soldier releases, which have been facilitated by UNICEF, as evidenced by the official release of more than 3,000 children in 2018 (UNICEF 2019).

By 2017, the ‘arrow boys’ in Yambio County as elsewhere had been mostly either demobilized, absorbed into formal armed groups in Western Equatoria (such as the SSNLM or SPLA-IO), defeated or intimidated into submission by groups with access to greater resources and firepower. Although the tempo of ‘arrow boy’ activity has declined in recent years, there has been an uptick in attacks in the vicinity of Yambio and Tambura counties as recently as mid-2020. The CTSAMVM and Small Arms Survey have presented evidence of ongoing recruitment and abduction of civilians and former ‘arrow boys’ into ‘Sector 6’ of the SPLA-IO in Ezo, Yambio and Nzara Counties throughout 2019 and early 2020 (McCrone 2020). If true, this would better position these armed groups to benefit from upcoming cantonment processes scheduled to take place nearby.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Yambio Town (County Headquarters), Bangasu, Gangura, Ri-Rangu, Nadiangere

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

Roads from Yambio town:

• A primary road runs westward through Nzara to Wau (Western Bar el Ghazal State) via Tambura, and eastward to Juba (Central Equatoria State). 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 between Tambura and Wau, which was designated ‘passable with difficulties’.
• A tertiary road also runs south to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (via Nzara County), and a tertiary road runs north from Yambio towards Cueibet town (Lakes state). Seasonal conditions of these roads are unknown.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: Yambio

REFERENCES

African Development Bank (ADB) (2018). South Sudan: A Study on Competitiveness and Cross-Border Trade with Neighboring Countries. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

Amnesty International. (2016). South Sudan: Former Governor Detained Without Charge: Joesph Bangasi Bakosoro. 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.

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

Radio Tamazuj. (2021). W. Equatoria State governor imposes dawn to dusk curfew in Yambio. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

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

REACH. (2019b). Yambio County Food Security and Livelihoods Brief. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

UNICEF. (2019). More than 3000 children released. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

WFP. (2020). Rising and thriving in South Sudan. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

REPORTS on YAMBIO

Aninyesi, T. M. W. (2019). The role of radio communication in combating violence against women: A case study of Anisa FM radio in Yambio County, Gbudue State-South Sudan. (Doctoral dissertation, Makerere University).

Bedford, J. (2019). Key Considerations: Bushmeat in the Border Areas of South Sudan and DRC. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

CSRF and Deng, D. (2021). Land, Conflict and Displacement in South Sudan: A Conflict-Sensitive Approach to Land Governance. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

ICG (International Crisis Group). (2016). South Sudan’s South: Conflict in the Equatorias. 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.

McCrone, F. (2020). Hollow Promises: The Risks of Military Integration in Western Equatoria. Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

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