Oil Revenue Dependence and Agricultural Underinvestment in South Sudan: Structural Roots of the Rural Credit Gap

South Sudan presents one of the clearest cases in sub-Saharan Africa where a resource-rich fiscal structure coexists with a credit-poor rural economy. Oil contributes the overwhelming share of public revenue and exports, yet agriculture remains the principal livelihood base for most households. This article examines how oil revenue dependence has contributed to agricultural underinvestment and, consequently, to a persistent rural credit gap in Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei and Lakes States. Drawing on thesis evidence on Community Group Saving and Lending (CGSL) mechanisms, policy literature, and macro-fiscal diagnostics, the article argues that the rural credit gap is not simply the result of farmer poverty or bank reluctance. It is a structural outcome of a political economy in which oil rents centralise fiscal attention, weaken incentives for broad-based rural financial architecture, and leave community-based savings groups to perform developmental functions beyond their capital depth. The study uses an interpretive mixed-methods approach, synthesising survey results from 85 respondents, qualitative insights from 17 interviews, and institutional analysis of public finance, agricultural services, and rural financial exclusion. Findings show that CGSLs reduce liquidity constraints and support agricultural productivity, but they cannot by themselves resolve the absence of long-term credit, collateral systems, rural banking infrastructure, risk-sharing mechanisms, and agricultural extension finance. The paper concludes that South Sudan's rural credit gap should be treated as a fiscal-structural problem, not merely a microfinance delivery problem. It recommends the creation of an oil-financed agricultural development and rural credit window, linked to CGSLs, SACCOs, extension services, warehouse systems, and transparent public expenditure tracking.