Sesame Value Chain Analysis: Enabling Environment Impact on Smallholders in Magwi County, South Sudan

The study identified the impacts of the enabling environment on sesame production and marketing, and suggested option to remove constraints. The study sampled 490 households from 6 localities in Magwi and Pajok Payams of Magwi County, South Sudan. Simple descriptive statistical techniques like frequency, percentages and mean were administered for households’ quantitative data analysis using the latest version of SPSS. The result of the study revealed that the majority (90.20%) household heads fall in the age range 18-54 years, considered active in farming. Some of the government policies and regulations that are obstacles to smallholder’s sesame production and marketing include high/excessive taxation rates, market fees and charges; poor quality of market infrastructure and facilities; lack of national market information system; lack of/inadequate off-farm storage; road blocks/ police check points; import/export taxes; and limited public investment in roads infrastructure (trunk roads, rural/feeder roads). Conversely, there was inadequate access to vital production and marketing infrastructure and social services like microfinance institution, banking facility, ox-ploughing infrastructure, and market structures. The study identified gaps in the services of agro-dealers in the study areas.73.5% of smallholders did not have access to extension services, 40.7% did not have access to market information while (86.2%) have no access to loans. The study suggested strategies and policy options to remove constraints in the enabling environment including reviewing laws, policies, rules and regulation; improving public infrastructure and facilities; and strengthening business supporting services delivery for production and marketing of sesame.