Heavy Taxes Push Farmers Out of Business in Western Equatoria

(YAMBIO COUNTY) – Farmers and agribusiness operators across South Sudan are urging the government to ease taxes and support mechanised agriculture, warning that outdated tools, poor infrastructure, and multiple tax layers are strangling local production and pushing the country further into food import dependence.

Agricultural leaders say that unless taxes are harmonised and incentives introduced for mechanisation, local producers will continue losing to cheaper imports from neighbouring countries.

Christopher Ismail, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Multipurpose Marketing and Cooperative in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, said his cooperative faces deep challenges caused by reliance on manual tools and high operating costs.

“The challenge we face is that we still use basic tools for farming. This limits how much we can produce and makes it hard to compete in bigger markets,” he said.

According to Ismail, manual farming which involves cutting trees and digging by hand  yields very little profit and makes scaling up nearly impossible. He believes that mechanisation is the only way for South Sudan to boost food production and reduce reliance on imports.

Through a partnership with the 2SCALE Project, the cooperative has shifted from selling raw grain to processing maize into flour. However, its current milling capacity stands at just one metric tonne (1,000 kilograms) per day, far below what is needed to meet market demand.

Ismail said they need a larger machine capable of processing 10 to 15 tonnes daily, adding that value addition helps prevent losses from spoilage of perishable maize.

However, the cost of transporting goods remains high due to poor roads and multiple taxes. “It is not easy moving produce from Yambio to Juba. The poor road network and heavy taxation make it very difficult,” he said.

He noted that heavy taxation between administrative areas, including payams, discourages many farmers from entering the business.

“When local produce is taxed at every level, it becomes more expensive than imported food. Imported maize flour is cheaper because it is mechanised and produced in bulk,” he said.

Ismail urged the government to provide incentives and tax relief for farmers.

“We need the government to motivate us to produce on a larger scale. Local farm produce deserves special consideration if we want to reduce dependence on imports,” he said.

At present, Eden Cooperative sells its 50-kilogram bag of maize flour at SSP 45,000 to 50,000 (USD 6.34–7.04), which makes it competitive with imported maize flour from Uganda.

In the livestock sector, similar frustrations are being voiced. Innocent Michael Lumori, Operations Manager at Beneka Modern Farms, said that high feed costs, disease outbreaks, and multiple taxes have hindered operations over the farm’s three-year existence.

To cope, the farm formulates its own poultry and pig feeds using local grains such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, and maize, instead of importing them. “We use locally available produce to reduce costs,” Michael explained.

The farm also applies organic methods, using moringa leaves, lemon, ginger, and onions for treatment, and even rabbit urine as a pesticide.

Despite high operating costs, Michael said their venture remains profitable due to the growing demand for white meat such as rabbit, which is popular among consumers with health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Rabbit meat is clean, healthy, and in high demand,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sida Josephine, Production Officer at Hagana Agro Processing Company, which produces honey and peanut butter, said high transport costs and multiple taxes remain their biggest obstacles. “We face multiple taxes and roadblocks when sourcing raw materials. Every checkpoint adds to our costs,” she said.

Hagana sources honey from Western and Eastern Equatoria States and occasionally from Uganda. To cut costs, the company has bought a generator to reduce power expenses and works with suppliers familiar with checkpoint procedures to avoid unnecessary payments.

Josephine admitted that this informal workaround helps reduce expenses but is not sustainable. “We need clear and fair tax policies to make local products affordable for consumers,” she said.

Agricultural experts say that South Sudan’s vast fertile land remains underutilised because most farmers depend on subsistence methods using hand tools. Poor public investment in infrastructure, especially the lack of all-weather roads, has also limited market access and raised transport costs.

The situation is worsened by unharmonised taxation, with multiple levies at state and county checkpoints increasing the price of local produce.

The combination of poor mechanisation, weak infrastructure, and heavy taxation means that imported food often remains cheaper than locally produced goods, perpetuating South Sudan’s dependence on costly food imports.