Pojulu People - Agrarian Economy

Agrarian Economy

The Pojulu Economy depends largely on subsistence production. It is an economy which aims to meeting the daily food needs of the Pojulu community. Activities range from reliance on animal husbandry to total dependence on crop production. The Pojulu use human labor combined with the most elementary tools locally made. This primitive mode of production has always dominated the lives of the Pojulu.

The Pojulu grow both staple and cash crops. The staple crops are for consumption and include cassava, sesame, maize, beans, various, and groundnuts. The cash crops include tobacco, cotton, coffee, and timber.

The Pojulu are not sophisticated in agricultural implements. They use local agricultural tools made locally by their own blacksmiths, using scrap iron. The local blacksmiths produce tools such as hoes, sickles, axes, arrows, spears, and knives.

Animal wealth in Pojulu land includes goats, sheep, chickens, and cattle. They are raised for food, marriage doweries, and as 'animal cash crops' earning the Pojulu money to enable them to purchase other goods and services.

Collective farming

The Pojulu practice “Mole” – a type of collective farming where a group of people between 5–10 or more are called to clear a field for neighbors or relative in one or two days. Here, a goat is slaughtered and beer is brewed for these people. This system of farming is advantageous. It clears hectares of land just in a day or so. “Lukonin” is also practiced, where two or more people agree to work in their farms on rotational basis. This system also saves time and effort. Women also do the same during preparation of land for planting and weeding of crops.

Subsistence agriculture

Past colonial regimes did nothing to improve the Pojulu reliance on subsistence agriculture. Successive Arab governments since Sudan independence perpetuated this primitive mode of production. The continuous civil wars exacerbated the problems until the 2011 formation of South Sudan. However, despite the practice of subsistence agriculture, the Pojulu never suffered a major famine. There was self-sufficiency in food production for local consumption in the Pojulu community. This food sufficiency is now sustaining the remnants from the civil wars in the Pojulu land.

Pojulu chiefs

The Pojulu chiefs play a great role in encouraging agricultural production. In the villages, chiefs pass local orders banning people from coming to the town or local station in the mornings. Bars for “Kwete” can be closed until noon, resulting in morning work at the farms. The chiefs are polygamous. Citizens volunteer to grow food crops for chiefs and their families. Meanwhile during visits to the villages, the chiefs return food to needy families, a 'Pojulu food relief program.'