New Delhi, July 19 -- From Rwanda to Kenya, fashioning footwear from discarded tires has long been a mark of local ingenuity.

In South Sudan, however, the creative work of such artisans is now fueled by an economic crisis that has left the government on the verge of bankruptcy and many people struggling to put food on the table.

As South Sudan's oil revenues have dwindled, the government for months has been unable to pay civil servants on time. The cash crisis affects everyone from soldiers to teachers, underscoring the range of economic hardship across the country, and many are looking for ways to keep going.

Some want cheap shoes, finding them not in supermarkets but in open markets where flip-flops and sandals are fashioned from wor...