Name: South Sudan families battle rising Nile floods to survive
Uploaded: 2025-12-15T16:01:48.745Z
Duration: 1 min 49 s
Description: Each day they rebuild river defenses using clay and papyrus, but increased flooding driven by recent climate change has made their homes even more vulnerable to flooding.

Each day they rebuild river defenses using clay and papyrus, but increased flooding driven by recent climate change has made their homes even more vulnerable to flooding.

Juba

Residents of the Makuak community in South Sudan are contending with daily flooding as water from the River Nile encroaches on their land. The community relies on hand-built defenses made from clay and papyrus, but increased flooding linked to climate change has made their homes more vulnerable. 

According to the United Nations, South Sudan is among the most climate-vulnerable countries globally, with over 375,000 people displaced by flooding in 2023. Despite these challenges, around 2,000 Akuak people continue to persevere on the islands, relying on fishing to sustain their families and livestock.

South Sudan families battle rising Nile floods to survive

People from Makuak community of South Sudan battle daily to keep their heads above the water. Each day, water is literally encroaching on their land on a channel off the River Nile. Each day, they rebuild river defenses using clay and papyrus, but increased flooding driven by recent climate change has made their homes even more vulnerable to flooding. The reason why this water is coming out is that the soil underneath is not compacted well. There are spaces through which the water can come up because it is something built by hand. So it will be maintained like the work Agnet is doing there. He will put some soil on top of it and compact it. To build the islands, we start by spreading grass where we want to raise the ground. Then we go and cut papyrus and level it on top of the grass. And then after that, we put soil on top. This is how to make the ground stronger and higher. South Sudan is considered the seventh most vulnerable country to climate change globally according to the United Nations. This year alone, over 375,000 people were displaced by flooding in the East African nation according to the UN agencies. We are doing this every year because we are staying in a lowland. So whenever the water rises with the flooding from the Nile or from rainwater, we have to do this to protect ourselves so that we are not chased away by water. But the past couple of years have been extremely testing, and the local authorities estimate 2,000 of the Akuak people are persevering on the islands. Fishing is central to the community's existence. It feeds families and livestock.

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