South Sudan and the World Bank on Wednesday launched a five-year 40-million-US-dollar project to boost animal health, food security, and climate resilience across five states.

James Wani Igga, vice president in charge of the economic cluster, said that the South Sudan Resilient Livestock Sector Project aims to diversify the country’s oil-dependent economy through the commercialisation of the underdeveloped livestock sector.

“We need enforcement that guides production and trade. Let us not keep our animals just for prestige but let us commercialise them,” Igga said during the launch in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The project to be implemented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation will benefit approximately 166,000 households, reaching nearly 1.2 million people in seven counties.

World Bank Group Country Manager for South Sudan Charles Undeland said the project came at a time when the country was facing climate shocks with recurrent floods and droughts, which continued to erode livelihoods and constrain the coping capacities of the population.

Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, minister of livestock and fisheries, stressed that this initiative is a strategic investment in resilience, peace and sustainable economic development for the country.

• A Tell Media / Xinhua report