LocationsKraal Fireside talk sessions: Co-creating local Solutions to Cattle Raiding in South Sudan
August 12, 2025
Cattle raiding has long been a part of the cultural landscape in Narus and Budi counties, the semi-arid borderlands of Eastern Equatoria, where tradition and tension frequently coexist. This practice, which was once guided by ancient codes of honour, has changed over time, turning into violent disagreements, conflict between communities, and the loss of livelihoods. Recognizing the urgency and complexity of the issue, the UNDP South Sudan Accelerator Lab in collaboration with the Roots of Generation (ROG), conducted a follow-up co-creation workshop designed to identify solutions from within the community.
The initiative was built on an earlier visit in May 2024, when the Lab, along with staff from the UNDP- Africa Borderlands Centre (UNDP-ABC) and Life & Peace Institute, who had travelled from Kenya and Ethiopia, visited the area. The ABC is UNDP's larger assistance for cross-border peace initiatives in the Karamoja corridor, which includes South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia; a region where national borders are porous, but communities, cultures, and conflict are shared.
Our trip back to Narus and Budi was more than just a continuation; it was a connection, strengthening of bonds, sharing of knowledge, and a celebration of local innovation.
Session with Kraal leaders: Mzee Loraca, during the Co-creation sessions in Narus.
Fireside Chats: Rekindling Community Dialogue
During fireside discussion moments, we gathered with elders, women, and kraal youths for open discussions. These fireside exchanges were more than just symbolic; they were strong tools for surfacing shared histories, long-standing grievances, and community aspirations. In the past, cattle exchange strengthened clan ties and fostered relationships rather than destroying them, according to the elders, who are the custodians of oral history. Young people, who are frequently held responsible for raids, talked candidly about peer pressure, the lack of job opportunities, and how raids are glorified in society.
Women and girls: The most unheard yet the most impacted having moments of reflection and co-creation.
Empathy Mapping: Seeing the Invisible
The first seeds of understanding and reconciliation were sown from these intimate discussions, and women—often the unseen and unheard but profoundly affected—spoke about their pain, resilience, and aspirations for change. From conversation to design. We led empathy mapping sessions, which used visual aids to analyze the words, thoughts, feelings, and actions of various actors in order to uncover more hidden truths. These conversations with various community groups were incredibly eye-opening.
These maps turned into mirrors, reflecting a common burden and strong desire for peace and improved livelihood among the raided families, kraal youths, elders, and women. Communities were able to visualize the overlapping pain points and motivations by mapping the perspectives of local chiefs, mothers, herders, raiders, and even the cattle themselves (a metaphor that provoked both insight and laughter).
This exercise surfaced emotional intelligence, the social and psychological effects of cattle raiding. The raided felt depressed, angry, unsettled, and frequently tempted to seek retaliation. They talked about the loss of their young people who were shot in the raids or injured, widowhood, orphanhood, abandoned lands, and the loss of loved ones. Those frequently referred to as "the other" were humanized by this process, which changed fear into curiosity and judgment into understanding.
Kraal Youths from Kapoeta and Budi
One kraal youth, Lochia Lonok, 34, from Lopua boma, reflected:
"I have participated in many cattle raids. I have raided, and my cows have been raided too. I have also seen the people I love being killed during cattle raids. There is nothing to gain in cattle raiding except for regrets. I really want us to stop this practice."
But things are starting to change. Elders are telling their sons that raiding holds no value, urging them instead to sell cattle for business, and to "cut the chain of cattle raids by taking all children to school.”
On the flipside of things, the empathy maps also showed how raiders are frequently praised, which feeds a vicious cycle of pride and suffering: "The youth who raided felt great and felt praised in their communities."
Persona Reflections: Voices from the Ground
1. Women and Girls in Kapoeta and Budi
Aged 21–45 and ranging from housewives to peace committee members, many of these women have lived in their communities for years. They described the consequences of cattle raiding as war/revenge killings, widowhood, displacement, and underdevelopment.
“Cattle raids bring loss of lives, instability, orphans, and a decline in productivity,” shared by one woman from Budi.
They expressed a strong desire for:
• Branding cattle (chip tagging technology) by county to prevent misidentification and theft
• Deployment of police in every boma
• Ending harmful cultural norms and denouncing raiders as "suicidal & unemployed"
• Alternative livelihoods (commercializing cattle keeping) instead of killing and stealing.
• Demand for NGOs to expand support in farming and water access.
Their coping strategies included speaking to their husbands and sons, advocating peace, and community policing. One culturally significant practice mentioned was the “pronouncement of a curse” as a deterrent against raiding.
2. Kraal Youths from Kapoeta and Budi
These young men, mostly aged 23–30 and with limited formal education, described their role in raiding with painful honesty. Many still saw raiding as a culturally approved symbol of strength and manhood, but their views are beginning to shift.
"Keeping cattle raids will incite more violence, hatred, and intercommunal conflict. This retards our communities in terms of development."
They emphasized:
• Holding raiders accountable
• Ending the normalization of violence
• Pursuing schooling and peaceful peer influence as a way out
• Viewing raiding as a community-driven problem, not just a youth issue
While many still perceive raiders as “brave warriors,” they increasingly understand that true strength lies in choosing peace.
Co-Created Pathways Forward
The workshop produced a number of community-driven ideas with profound insights from persona reflections and empathy mapping: we jointly developed early-stage solutions that combine conventional wisdom with contemporary insight:
• Peace Kraal Networks: Cross-county grazing corridors that are jointly and community monitored.
• Initiatives for Cattle Tagging: Innovative chip technology designed to stop theft and misidentification.
• Youth Dialogues & Livelihood Labs: Encourage education, entrepreneurship, and cooperative herding.
• Community Accountability Structures: Revive and strengthen local laws and give women and elders the authority to step in early.
In summary
The problem of cattle raiding in Narus and Budi won't be resolved overnight. However, the chorus of reflection, from mothers to kraal youths, indicates a change in perspective. We saw a community prepared to rethink peace from within. The residents of these counties are demonstrating that long-lasting change can start with a spark, kindled by the fireside discussions, mapping, listening, and seeing through their lens.
A community that used to view raiding as honorable now talks about trauma and a new form of bravery: the ability to stop. This co-creation initiative demonstrates that significant change is achievable when solutions are sourced from within.
Otherwise, we are left not only with data, insights and photographs, but with a profound respect for resilience, creativity, and wisdom rooted in South Sudan’s pastoral heartland and above all, the echo of voices like Josephine Akii, 27, from Chukudum:
“When I am pregnant, I expect to give birth to a son or daughter who should not feel the impact of cattle raiding as I have.”
Her vision is not just a dream. It is a future that communities across Eastern Equatoria are beginning to build—one conversation, one photo, and one promise at a time.
