Juba women who started small now feed the city as bakery grows from 2 to 14 workers

A Juba bakery that started with two workers now employs 14, most of them women, as three small South Sudanese food businesses grow on local crops and a World Food Programme grant.

The businesses, a bakery, a cooking oil maker and a poultry farm, were profiled by WFP on Oct. 16, World Food Day, as examples of local firms helping to feed a country that imports much of its food.

Bread from sorghum and millet

Helen Foni opened Lulu Bakes in Juba in 2023, using locally grown sorghum and millet instead of imported wheat alone. A $25,000 grant paid for industrial baking equipment.

Her staff has grown from two to 14 people, and 80% of them are women. Foni said regular paychecks are giving those women more control over their lives.

Cooking oil made at home

Cissy Apio Mario’s women-led company, Africa Cornerstone, presses cooking oil from South Sudanese oilseeds, a product the country has long imported.

She started in 2024 making 10 to 20 litres a week by hand. After the grant helped her buy machines, output rose to as much as 120 litres a week. The company buys from 90 farmers and plans to reach 150.

“Before, we didn’t even have a website,” Mario said.

Up to 720 eggs a day

Alfred John Galeo’s Dream Farm Agribusiness Cooperative started in 2025 with about 500 birds. A $40,000 grant paid for bigger chicken houses, vaccine storage, a water system and 1,500 more chicks.

The farm now supplies 600 to 720 eggs a day and employs six people. Galeo hopes cheap, local eggs can help fight child malnutrition.

Why it matters

More than 2 million young children in South Sudan are malnourished, and most food in Juba’s markets comes from Uganda and other neighbours. The three firms are among 11 businesses in five states that shared $544,000 in 2025 under WFP’s IGNITE programme, funded by Denmark and Germany.

“Lasting solutions to hunger begin with strong local food systems,” said Mutinta Chimuka, WFP’s country director in South Sudan.

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Juba women who started small now feed the city as bakery grows from 2 to 14 workers

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