Wulu County, Lakes State

Demographics

2008 NBS Census population: 40,550

2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 69,428

2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 89,226

2024 UN OCHA population estimate*: 69,428

2024 IPC population estimate: 91,903

2025 UN OCHA population estimate*: 92,247

Ethnic groups and languages: Belle/‘Jur Bel(i)’, Bongo

Displacement Figures as of September 2024: 9,926 IDPs (-457 Sept. 2023) and 11,799 returnees (+1,531 Sept. 2023)

IPC Food Security: November 2024 – Crisis (Phase 3); IPC Projections: December to March 2025 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2025 – Crisis (Phase 3)

Economy & Livelihoods

Wulu County is located in Lakes State and is the largest county in Lakes. It borders Cueibet County to the north, Rumbek Centre and Rumbek East Counties to the north-east, Yirol West County to the east. It also borders Warrap State (Tonj South County) to the north-west and Western Equatoria State to the west, south and south-east. The Gulnam and Roah rivers flow through the county.

The county is classified as belonging to the ironstone plateau agro-pastoral livelihood zone, which is characterized by open savannah woodlands. The sandy-clay soil is considered moderately fertile and supports production of a variety of crops. The peoples of Wulu County Lakes State predominantly practice agriculture and fishing, with many households also supplementing their livelihoods by raising animals (such as goats, sheep and poultry). While the Belle and Bongo are the majority within the county, they are minorities within Lakes States. An estimated 80% of households engaged in agriculture in Wulu County in 2018 (FAO/WFP 2018). This remains the case in figures from 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022). Gross cereal yields for Wulu County were at 1.3 tonnes per hectare in 2021 and 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023). Communities also practice beekeeping and are providers of honey to residents of Lakes State and some neighbouring communities, with some honey also exported to urban areas of the country. Crops cultivated include sorghum, millet, cow peas, green gram, groundnut and sweet potatoes. In some regions, pumpkin, maize and cassava are also grown on a limited scale.

Honey is a unique local product, which residents harvest three times a year, in March, June and August/September. Within the Belle community, the number of beehives owned by a household is an indicator of its wealth. Poor households may own between 5-10 beehives, while households owning 150-300 are considered wealthy (UNMISS 2018). Beekeeping requires little startup capital and has both direct benefits (in the form of honey and beeswax cash crops), as well as indirect benefits from pollination.

Food security in Wulu County has deteriorated over the past few years. IPC projections put Wulu County at crisis (IPC level 3) levels in November 2024, with food insecurity conditions projected to persist at the same level until at least July 2025. Despite the severity of food insecurity, Wulu is the only county in Lakes State not to be projected to experience emergency (IPC level 4) levels of food insecurity in April to July 2025.

Infrastructure & Services

Wulu was administered as part of Western Lakes State between 2015 and 2020 and Wulu town is the county HQ. A local market in Wulu town serves the county, although the availability and price of goods have been impacted by inflation and insecurity. Wulu is perhaps one of the most neglected counties in Lakes State in terms of infrastructure. Roads connecting Rumbek Centre to the Wulu County Administrative Headquarters are poor and many parts are insecure.

While home to a single school only a decade ago, Wulu County now offers its youth more educational opportunities. Wulu County is now home to one (1) Early Childhood Development centre, fourty-one (41) primary schools, and Wulu Secondary School, located in Wulu Payam.

In December 2024, the WHO reported that Wulu County had fourteen (14) health facilities, of which fourteen (14) were functional. These functional facilities included thirteen (13) primary health care units (PHCUs), one (1) primary health care centres (PHCCs), and no (0) hospitals. This means there were approximately 2.11 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 0.54 PHCCs per 50,000 people in the county at that time.

According to OCHA’s 2025 Humanitarian Needs Overview, there are an estimated 53,913 people in need in Wulu County, which represents approximately 58% of the county’s total population reported by OCHA for 2025. For comparison, in 2024, OCHA reported that there were an estimated 38,846 people in need in Wulu County, of whom 27,209 were non-displaced people, with the remainder comprising IDPs and returnees. . According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023, over 54,000 people in Wulu County had humanitarian needs (up sharply from 30,400 in 2021), which was 60% of the estimated population of Wulu County reported in the HNO. In 2020, Wulu was listed by the HNO as one of fourteen counties in “extreme” need of SGBV services, though it was not clear if this was due to high severity or lack of coverage with existing services. Flooding in 2020 compounded food insecurity in the county. With unreliable rainfall in previous years, farmers resorted to cultivating in lowlands capable of better retaining water. When excessive rainfall led to flooding in July and August of 2020, this proved disastrous. Over 1,100 households were affected by flooding with significant displacement as well as the destruction of crops, livestock, and homes. Prices in the local markets were reported to have doubled in the wake of the flooding (IRNA 2021).

Conflict Dynamics

Much of Wulu’s population is clustered in the far north-east of the county, with southern and western areas of the county adjoining Western Equatoria and Warrap states being isolated from road infrastructure. During the 1990s, Belle communities from the areas of Mvolo and Wulu hosted displaced Dinka communities from conflict-affected areas of Lakes, and provided assistance during the 1998 famine (PACT 2004). Wulu notably hosted a follow-up conference from the Wunlit Peace Conference in 2000 as part of the People-to-People peace process. This conference was held under the theme of “Strategic Linkages”, and was intended to build towards political reconciliation among John Garang and Riek Machar (Ashworth 2019). Wulu was also the site of a 2004 meeting under the auspices of the Panakar Peace Council, which addressed deteriorating relations between parts of the Belle and Dinka communities, including disputes relating to insecurity, social tensions, and damage to crops (PACT 2004).

Pastoralists from neighbouring areas of Lakes State have sought pasture and water for cattle in Wulu, at tines causing tensions with local communities, particularly if damage is caused to local farms, beehives and water sources used for fishing. These have sometimes resulted in clashes between youth from parts of the resident communities and groups of pastoralists from the Gok and Agar Dinka clans. Conflict involving elements of the Dinkar Agar and Belle communities was reported in 2006 and again in January 2009, with the 2009 violence resulting in dozens of deaths and significant displacement (USAID 2010; Sudan Tribune 2009a). The violence increased insecurity on the county’s road network, and resulted in a number of reprisal attacks, with the killing of a local politician reportedly galvanising further violence in June 2009 (Sudan Tribune 2009b). The following year, community leaders initiated a reconciliation process between the two parties to the conflict. The status of the Belle and Bongo as ethnic minorities within Lakes State have reinforced perceptions of marginalization, including with regards to services and economic development. Tensions have also arisen with youth from Mvolo County in neighbouring Western Equatoria State, with a land dispute resulting in fighting in 2012 and the destruction of a healthcare centre in Bidibadai in April 2013 (The Niles 2013).

Wulu County was not significantly affected by the national conflict (2013-2018) relative to other areas of the country. However, the escalation of violence in neighbouring states during the civil war has had knock-on effects on the area. For example, in January 2015 it was reported that residents of Rumbek East had fled into Wulu County as a result of violence in Rumbek East, however humanitarian agencies were not able to confirm numbers. Additionally, the establishment of the 28 states system was reported to have instigated conflict between parts of the Belle and Gok Dinka communities in Bargel Payam, displacing nearly 2,000 people in August 2016 (Protection Cluster 2017, p.9). Fighting resumed in late December 2016, reportedly killing 15 people (UNSC 2017, p.6). Local information indicates the conflict relates to an attempt by a group from Ngaap Boma in Bargel Payam to leave Western Lakes State and join Gok State (both of which had been established out of the former Lakes State).

Following the signing of the R-ARCSS in 2018, intermittent violence involving pastoralists and local farmers of Wulu was reported in Bargel Payam once again between 2020 and 2022, though was reportedly calmed following the intervention of Lakes State authorities. Periodic raids on cattle camps have continued to occur within Wulu County, though the identity of the attackers is often either unclear or disputed (Sudan Tribune 2015; Radio Tamazuj 2019). In some instances, raids are reported to have been conducted within or between parts of the Gok and Agar Dinka communities, and on occasion have allegedly involved Atuot/Atwot pastoralists from Yirol West. Occasional clashes have also occurred between pastoralists and security forces (Radio Tamazuj 2014), most recently in June and September 2023 (The Radio Community 2023). In December 2019, six Gok Dinka cattle traders were killed and a significant number of cattle stolen whilst the traders transited through Wulu County to reach Maridi, though there is no information regarding the identity of the attackers (Sudan Tribune 2019).

Criminality and highway banditry is also a recurring security threat on the main road between Wulu and Rumbek towns. In recent years, several civilians have been killed while traveling on the road (Radio Tamazuj 2015), whilst attacks were also reported on the secondary road running to Cueibet in 2021. Additionally, attacks targeting vehicles near the border with Mvolo were recorded in 2020 and 2021, disrupting the essential road network. The security situation along roads in Wulu is reported to have improved since early 2022.

Administration & Logistics

Payams: Wulu (County Headquarters), Bargel, Domoloto, Makundi

UN OCHA 2020 map of Wulu County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-wulu-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

A primary road runs from Rumbek town to Mundri (Western Equatoria State) via Wulu town. The Logistics Cluster deemed this road passable during both the rainy season of 2024 and dry season of 2025.

A secondary road running northwest connects Wulu to Cueibet. Seasonal conditions of the road are unknown.

A tertiary road running northeast connects Wulu to Pacong town in Rumbek East County. Seasonal conditions of the road are unknown.

A long tertiary road runs from the north of the county down to the south-west, and terminating in Yambio and Nzara towns in Western Equatoria State. Seasonal conditions of the road are unknown.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli Landing Sites and Airstrips: None

References

Ashworth, J. (2019). ‘The People-To-People Peace Process: Wunlit: The West Bank Nuer-Dinka Peace and Reconciliation Conference’, in the Zambakari Institute (eds.) South Sudan Peace Agreement and Peacemaking, pp. 84-88. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

FAO/WFP. (2023). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved 31 July 2023. See equivalent versions of the CFSAM report online for data from previous years.

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated). Retrieved 13 July 2023.

IRNA. (2020). Wulu – Cueibet Counties, Lakes State. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

OCHA. (2019). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

PACT. (2004). The Panakar Peace Council’s Rapid response in the Lakes and Mvolo Sub-region – May – July 2004 Consolidated Report. Retrieved from Sudan Open Archive on 6 January 2024.

Protection Cluster. (2017). Protection Tends South Sudan: October – December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2014). Lakes butchers say insecurity ruins their business. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2015). 7 killed in separate shootings in Lakes State. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2019). 14 arrested over cattle raid in Wulu County, Western Lakes. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2009a). Nine people dead as 175 people flee clashes in Lakes State. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2009b). 22 counted dead in recent clashes in Wulu of Lakes state. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2015). Seven people killed in South Sudan’s Rumbek cycle of revenge attacks. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2019). 6 killed, 12 wounded in Western Lakes state ambush. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

The Niles. (2013). Health centre set ablaze over land disputes in Wulu County. Retrieved via Wayback Machine 18 July 2023.

The Radio Community. (2023). Police officer dies recovering stolen cattle in Wulu. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

UNMISS. (2018). Money for honey: Bee keeping an economic lifeline for Wulu residents. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

UNSC. (2017). Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan (covering the period from 16 December 2016 to 1 March 2017), S/2017/224. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

USAID. (2010). Conflict over resources among rural communities in Southern Sudan: A case study of Lake Girindi, Mvolo County, Western Equatoria State (WES). Retrieved 6 January 2024.

Reports on Wulu

Ayeni, G. O. et al. (2020). Factors Influencing Compliance with The Utilization of Effective Malaria Treatment and Preventive Measures in Wulu, South Sudan. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, 30 (4). Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Ayeni, G.O., et al. (2020). Perception of basic package of health services’ impact on health service delivery and mortality among residents of Wulu County, South Sudan. Journal of Public Health 14 p.135-151. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Ayeni, G.O., et al. (2017). Pattern and Distribution of Malaria Disease in Wulu – A Typical County in South Sudan. International Journal of Public Health 5. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Chilvers, R. (2015). Six Lessons from the Within and Without the State Programme in South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Nelson Siewe Fodjo, N., Jada, S.R., Taban, A., Bol, Y.Y., Carter, J.Y. & Colebunders, R. (2024). Epidemiology of epilepsy in Wulu County, an onchocerciasis-endemic area in South Sudan. Heliyon. Retrieved 15 March 2025.

REACH. (2014). Conflict Analysis: Lakes, Northern Bahr El Gazhal and Warrap States. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.