VZCZCXRO6702
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0479/01 0541616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231616Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1610
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS, SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EPET PGOV EAID SU
SUBJECT:  MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND 
FORESTRY 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  On February 20, CG Juba met with 
Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Minister of 
Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro.  The 
Minister provided an overview of his ministry's capacity 
as well as his ambitious vision for the future.  He 
described the irresponsible logging operations that he 
has suspended and how agriculture could become a major 
pillar of the economy of Southern Sudan.  Lomuro said 
that discussion of the White Nile Ltd. Petroleum deal had 
been postponed again, but the tide of opinion within the 
Council of Ministers seemed to be running against the 
deal.  End summary. 
 
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Agricultural Outlook 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Lomuro said that he had begun work at his ministry 
by completing an inventory of human and physical 
resources, neither of which met the mark.  He stressed 
that agriculture should be a driving force in the economy 
of the South.  There was the potential not only for food 
security, but also for surplus production that could be 
exported to neighboring countries, and to the North. 
 
¶3. (U) He described the first phase of agricultural 
recovery as modest.  Last planting season seeds and tools 
became available only in June and July, too late to do 
much good.  This year FAO had already begun distribution 
before the first rains, but only eighteen percent of the 
South was covered.  The EU had granted USD 700,000 to 
Veterinarians Sans Frontieres for additional 
distributions in Upper Nile, and Lomuro had sought 
supplemental funding for his ministry that would permit 
eighty percent coverage.  He said that cassava was the 
staple crop for Equatoria, with millet and maize favored 
in other zones.  Lomuro said that much former 
agricultural land had become overgrown during the war, 
and required clearance, and that in widespread areas land 
mines remained an impediment. 
 
¶4. (U) Lomuro said that Phase II of the recovery program 
was longer term and far more ambitious, and that it would 
require new institutions.  He hoped to group farmers and 
to provide them tractors for more efficient production, 
with the support of micro-finance from an agricultural 
bank that does not yet exist.  The recovery of former 
cash crops such as tea, sugar, coffee, and tobacco was a 
long-range goal, as was creation of a strategic grain 
reserve to see the South through periods of drought.  He 
also hoped to find financing for an industrial mill and a 
mill to produce peanut oil and peanut butter.  Lomuro 
concluded that agricultural extension services and a 
clear land tenure policy would need to be in place before 
the South could undertake serious agricultural reform. 
 
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Forestry Prospects 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Lomuro said that Southern Sudan still holds rich 
forestry resources in teak (Equatoria), mahogany (Bahr el 
Ghazal), and gum Arabic (Upper Nile), but that the war 
had bought huge devastation to the tropical forests. 
Both sides -- but largely the SPLM -- had granted 
concessions at bargain prices to at least eight foreign 
logging firms from Asia, Europe (UK), and South Africa 
that had engaged in extensive clear cutting.  A number of 
local firms had cashed in on this bonanza as well.  He 
said that the concessions had been a source of easy 
money, but that it was not always clear where the 
resulting revenues had gone.  On November 4, 2005, he had 
issued an order suspending all further logging operations 
until a new forestry code had been adopted, and 
transparent tenders publicized.  He had also brought 
local chiefs into the debate because of their traditional 
claims to revenues from the use of local resources. 
 
¶6. (U) The Ministry had acquired satellite imagery and 
chartered some over flights to assess what damage had 
been done, and what resources remained.  Lomuro asked if 
the USG might have any satellite or other forestry data 
that it could provide to help with this task.  Teams for 
the Forestry Service had begun to visit sites to do an 
inventory, but vehicles and funds were major constraints. 
 
¶7. (U) Lomuro noted that non-commercial or small 
entrepreneur use of forest resources was also an issue. 
Widespread production of charcoal had denuded some areas, 
and bamboo was being harvested for construction at an 
unsustainable rate.  One of his top priorities was to 
license these activities to generate some revenues and to 
 
KHARTOUM 00000479  002 OF 002 
 
 
halt the most destructive processes.  He said that he 
favored introducing gas as a cooking source to slow the 
felling of trees for firewood.  CG observed that this 
would be costly and require technology that does not 
exist in much of the South.  The use of simple, fuel 
efficient cooking stoves such as those manufactured in 
the IDP camps in Darfur made better sense.  Lomuro 
requested a point of contact. 
 
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Petroleum Controversy 
--------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Lomuro revealed that the decision on the White 
Nile Ltd. vs. Total petroleum controversy had been 
postponed yet again, the fifth time.  He observed that 
there were many questions about the White Nile deal and 
some "dodgy" business connections.  He said that many 
ministers were unhappy about the manner in which the 
original deal was brokered, and that the tide of opinion 
seemed to be running against White Nile.  Lomuro is one 
of several Sudanese officials invited to the Southern 
Sudan Investment Conference in Nairobi on March 14 and 
¶15.  Other invited participants are Salva Kiir, Riek 
Machar, GNU Minister of Energy El Jaz, GNU Minister of 
Investment Malik Agar, GoSS Finance Minister Chol, GoSS 
Commerce and Trade Minister Makana, and GoSS Minister of 
Mines and Energy Akol.  Lomuro is rumored to be a 
partisan of the Total consortium. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Lomuro is very confident and visionary in his 
view of what can be achieved, but some of his ideas seem 
premature, and are unworkable for now. 
 
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Bio Data 
-------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Lomuro is a Bari in his late 40s who came into 
the GoSS on the shirttails of Bona Malwal and the South 
Sudan Democratic Forum.  A veterinary doctor by training, 
with a microbiology specialty, he spent seventeen years 
working in Europe, principally London, during the war. 
He was a major proponent of the South-South dialogue and 
has been a critic of SPLM and John Garang. 
 
HUME