Depending heavily on imported goods, especially food items, South Sudan is still unaware of why such goods are labelled “For Export Only”.
It looks like such products are not or rarely eaten in the countries where they are produced. If not or rarely eaten, then why are they not or rarely eaten? For instance, food items imported from Uganda are labelled “For Export Only”, what does Uganda expect to hear from the consumers? Uganda may expect consumers to understand that food production is abundant and that, there are factories tasked only with the production of goods to be exported. If this is true, then it is still not enough to explain why goods are labelled “For Export Only”.
I am skeptical about food items imported from Uganda. My intuition tells me that there is either fakery or a long-term effect coated in the goods. My skepticism was proven right in 2021 when Kenya published research on Ugandan food products in which it found Ugandan food items, especially maize flour, had an abundant chemical in it. It was found out that Ugandan flour contains an abundant aflatoxin; a chemical that keeps the flour preserved. Aflatoxin can be carcinogenic, teratogenic or mutagenic.
A friend of mine who has stayed in Uganda for years told me that what South Sudanese eat from Ugandan food products are ectoderm and mesoderm, but the endoderm is eaten by Ugandans themselves. This further proves my skepticism and that of other South Sudanese who have woken up to question imported goods.
Having been depending on food products from Uganda, many South Sudanese are suffering from a lot of diseases with unexplainable origins. Many people are suffering from liver diseases, others are suffering from cancers and many children are born with deformities. Could Ugandan food products be one of the causes of such diseases? Yes, it could be. Aflatoxin causes hepatocellular carcinoma, a liver disease from which many South Sudanese suffer.
South Sudanese who have once stayed in the cities, such as Khartoum, Nairobi, Cairo, and Addis Ababa to mention a few, do not buy products of Uganda and China because of their fakeness. They buy Mighty products from Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Dubai, Nairobi, among others. This is evidenced by the fact that when a border between Sudan and South Sudan opens, Ugandan products are completely abandoned and consumers rush to buy Sudan food products. When South Sudan banned the Ugandan drink known as ‘Sawa Sawa’ that tastes like the dissolved bark of a mahogany tree I became very happy and wanted to urge the authorities to further ban more Ugandan products, but I had no power to be heard.
South Sudan heavily depends on a variety of products imported from Uganda and other countries. These products include food products in abundance, building and scholastic materials, chairs, clothes, jewelleries, shoes, among others. Other products may be normal to use, but for food products, often labelled “For Export Only” that are consumed, they are not only fake but also disease-causing. So, when is South Sudan going to question or test what it imports for consumption?
The soil is fertile in South Sudan. Jokingly, even metals can germinate in South Sudan. Why would South Sudan misuse such a great favour from God? Instead of importing diseases in the form of food items, South Sudan should prioritise agriculture to produce its own food. With South Sudan producing its own food, not only hunger is going to be eradicated, but also some diseases that are believed to have been found in imported food products.
Thanks for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.