Addressing institutional voids through bricolage strategies: the commercial smallholder farmers in the conflict-affected business environment in South Sudan

Agricultural production has been severely affected by a civil war in South Sudan. The most affected category in this case is commercial small-holder farmers who face multiple institutional voids in their business environment. Despite these institutional voids, the study found that some smallholder farmers continue producing for market purposes. The main objective of this study was to understand the coping strategies deployed by commercial small-holder farmers to overcome such institutional voids facing them. In doing so, 16 interviews were conducted with the small-holder farmers using focus group discussion and semi-structured questionnaires, and two interviews with the South Sudan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security which supports farmers through development partners. Published reports indicated that FAO is an implementing partner that implements the donated funds by IFAD, while WFP provides food aid. The study identified among others, the price instability/the effects of inflation, and a lack of finances as the major institutional voids that smallholders mentioned in the interviews. The study found that small-holder farmers deployed entrepreneurial bricolage strategies to address such institutional voids. Food aid, the help given by the village chiefs and clan elders in the form of cows, as well as social connections with the resource-abundant people within communities were entrepreneurial bricolage strategies deployed by small-holder farmers. It was concluded that although the conflict affected agriculture in a negative way, it was crucial to learn some strategies deployed by smallholders to overcome institutional voids and continue participating in market-linked agriculture.