The Agricultural Value Chain Development Project office in Bo has officially launched and handed to the people of the districts of Moyamba and Kailahun, a project that aims at modernizing and mechanizing the use of In-land Valley Swamps in the two districts.
The project that was launched by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Theresa Tenneh Dick, involves the construction of 23 Grain Stores and 10 Boreholes, to support irrigation and sanitation in the two districts.
The deputy minister stated that a project that aims at mechanizing the use of swamps supports the 5 pillars of the government’s development agenda. “Mechanization” she stated; “Reduces burden on farmers” and “reduces importation”. She explained further that mechanization also “increases production and productivity”.
With that, she urged commitment of the contractors and told them that “We demand good work”. She also asked the chiefs to help in monitoring of the work.
“We want the equipment to be handled with care as it is ours and not the government’s”, she told indigenes and would-be beneficiaries.
Engineer Abdulrahman Kpaka of AVDP, explaining purpose of the gathering at a town hall meeting at Moyamba Junction stated: “We are here to do handing over so that work starts.” The project, which he said, starts now, he said has gone through a lot of ‘crucible assessments’. Upon completion of the project, farmers in the two districts, he said, would be able to do rice and vegetable cropping, twice and once a year, respectively.
Chief Alfred Lappia, Fakunya Chiefdom, Moyamba District, stated that the people of his chiefdom and district are ready to farm and further reported that his chiefdom is an Agricultural field. “Fakunya people are ready to work and the women are ready to work too”, he stated. The chiefdom he said was ready to feed itself and beyond. “We are ready to feed Fakunya and even beyond. We are ready to work in swamps and uplands. And you just support us”, he concluded.
Councilor Moses Kamara, representing the Moyamba District Council Chairman stated: “When stakeholders go into serious agriculture, the subjects follow too. And the council is ready”.
Project Manager AVDP Bo, Monica Kwame-Greene stated: “If we want to increase production, there are certain things that we need to do and that is why we are here today”.
She said that rehabilitating swamps, helps farmers cultivate throughout the year. The project she said, aims at supporting farmers so as to take them out of poverty. “AVDP has a lot of people supporting the project to make sure that we support our farmers and take them out of poverty…so that they can feed themselves; feed the country; and generate income”.
She told the people of Giema, Kailahun district that the project includes providing some grain stores and improved water points, to ease access to clean drinking water. She added: “We are doing all these so that the farmers and community benefit.”
Section Chief, Giema, Augustine Amara Mendegla asked Kailahun people to embrace the project and make good use of it.
Meanwhile, the proposed grain store is to be a state-of-the-art grain store, fully equipped with facilities like “storage, thresher, drier, de-stoner” and many more. “We will not just plant rice and leave the farmers without equipment to harvest rice and if we want to increase production, there are certain things that we need to do”.