By Kei Emmanuel Duku
Across South Sudan, farmers are overburdened with multiple taxes and illegal checkpoints, making agricultural inputs costly for food production in the country.
Farmers are appealing to the government to enforce long-standing tax exemptions on agricultural imports and locally produced goods, as hidden charges and illegal checkpoints undermine national policy and fuel Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).
Though agricultural imports have officially been exempted from customs duties since 2010—including food items, tractors, and inputs like fertilisers—farmers say they still face arbitrary charges at border posts and checkpoints.
These cash payments, sometimes made without receipts, bypass government systems and reflect systemic abuse, a key enabler of IFFs according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020.
“We pay tax, but sometimes we don’t feel the impact,” said Moses Yasin, founder of Yasin Farms Limited in Yei- Central Equatoria State. “Officials ignore exemption letters and demand cash payment. That money ends up in someone’s pocket.”
Yasin and other farmers say these illicit fees increase the cost of farming and food prices while depriving the government of revenue needed for infrastructure and services.
The country is losing millions annually in unrecorded payments, shifting the burden onto producers and consumers.
In 2010, South Sudan exempted agricultural inputs—including tools, irrigation systems, and seeds—from taxation to encourage food production. This was reinforced by a 2019 Council of Ministers’ resolution that reiterated no taxes should be imposed on food imports or the local transportation of food.
But enforcement remains weak. Yasin says that inputs such as coco peat, turkey, chicks, and irrigation systems imported from Uganda and Kenya are still taxed or held until bribes are paid.
“There are over 15 illegal checkpoints between Juba and my farm,” he said. “Each one demands 20,000 to 50,000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) in cash—no receipts. The cost depends on your negotiation skills.”
He said uniformed personnel—military officers and other organized forces—regularly demand bribes. Since these payments are off-the-books, they are excluded from national revenue, compounding IFFs.
Yasin runs a 20–50-acre farm growing vegetables, maize, and poultry. He’s now switching to solar energy to lower irrigation costs, but even solar panels and generators are taxed at 5–10%, despite falling under the tax exemption policy.
Ploughing and harrowing a single acre costs around 700,000 SSP (approximately $150), excluding seeds and fertiliser—inputs that should be tax-free. “Instead of benefiting from exemptions, we are paying more and passing that cost to buyers,” he said.
Even when goods reach local markets, farmers face further levies. At Yei’s Lutaaya market, local authorities charge taxes that contradict the 2019 national policy. “There’s a disconnect between what’s written and what’s happening on the ground,” Yasin said.
Such practices distort pricing, discourage investment, and threaten food affordability. The UNCTAD report links informal levies, tax misapplication, and bribery to a weakening of national tax systems and rising trade-related IFFs.
Bafuka John Paulino, a farmer in Western Equatoria state, says he is also grappling with high costs and corrupt customs practices.
His company, Bafuka Investment Company, farms livestock and crops; however, veterinary medicines imported from Uganda are heavily taxed.
“In Yambio, a litre of pesticide costs 280,000 to 300,000 SSP ($55), but across the border in Uganda, its just 10,000–15,000 Ugandan Shillings ($5-10),” he said. The inflated prices, he believes, stem from informal border payments and bribery.
Paulino recalled losing seven tonnes of watermelon worth 5 million SSP ($800) after a truck broke down on the way to Juba.
“Even before the breakdown, bribes at checkpoints had pushed the price too high for Juba consumers,” he said.
Despite government promises to reduce checkpoints, they remain common. Transporting a 100-kg sack of groundnuts, Paulino says, costs an additional 40,000–60,000 SSP in undocumented charges.
“What you see in the receipt is not what you actually pay,” he said.
Paulino has since shifted to selling in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where informal taxes are lower but also easy to access U.S. dollars.
“In Congo, taxes are cheaper and simple to get dollars in open markets. I use mobile transfers to buy agro-inputs in Uganda,” he said.
Both Yasin and Paulino believe South Sudan could become food self-sufficient within two years—if exemptions are enforced, roads are rehabilitated, and officials are trained.
“If the government removes these unnecessary taxes and roadblocks, we can produce enough to compete with imports,” Paulino said.
Former Minister of Finance Aggrey Tisa Sabuni agrees with farmers’ concerns. While the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) collects official taxes, he said other government bodies—including National Security, Military Intelligence, and the Criminal Investigation Department—extort money from traders at roadblocks.
He attributes this partly to the delayed payment of civil service salaries. “Some civil servants haven’t been paid for over a year. That drives this kind of behaviour,” Sabuni said.
He added that while official policies offer tax relief on agricultural inputs, poor coordination and a lack of awareness among customs officials often result in double taxation or the payment of illegal fees.
“Farmers think they are taxed by the government, but in truth, they’re being extorted.”
As a member of the East African Community (EAC), South Sudan should be subsidising inputs with tariffs between 0–3%, Sabuni said.
“The EAC calls for free movement of goods and services. But in South Sudan, it’s the opposite.”
Capital goods such as water pumps, fertilisers, and seeds should not be taxed. But in practice, many traders pay taxes twice—at entry and again at internal checkpoints.
These gaps in enforcement are proving costly. A recent joint report by the government and United Nations agencies estimates that 7.7 million South Sudanese—over half the population—face high levels of acute food insecurity between April and July 2025.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) places 2.4 million people in an emergency phase, 5.2 million in crisis, and 83,000 in catastrophic conditions—mostly in Upper Nile State. Many are returnees fleeing the war in Sudan.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, attributes the worsening food insecurity to conflict, inflation, and natural disasters, such as floods, which have damaged rural roads.
He states that undocumented levies and weak enforcement of exemptions are compounding the crisis.
At the IPC report launch on June 12th 2025, in Juba, Abdelbagi pledged reforms: “We are preparing a clear roadmap for implementing exemptions on agricultural inputs,” he said.
The ministry will issue a detailed list of exempt and non-exempt items to clarify policy for border agents and traders.
He also condemned illegal checkpoints: “They are illegal, and the government is working to remove them to allow free movement of goods.”
To support mechanized farming, the government has procured 104 tractors for distribution across the 10 states and three administrative areas.
These will be housed in new agro-mechanical centres to benefit organized farmer groups. “We are not giving them to individuals,” Abdelbagi said. “Only registered cooperatives will benefit.”
He said the ministry is working with the Agricultural Bank and Cooperative Bank to ensure that “only progressive, not briefcase cooperatives” receive financial support.
The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to shifting from subsistence to mechanized farming through tax relief, training, and public-private partnerships.
For farmers like Yasin and Paulino, however, real change will only come when exemptions are respected, roads are safe, and corruption is punished.
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