The group’s main focus is on rice cultivation, but cassava plantation and vegetable gardening is also part of the farming, and that was why in each group of 25 persons, 10 are women who concentrate more on the cassava and vegetable gardening.
Mr Dumbuya who is also the Head teacher of the only primary school in Kathakare informed officials and the media that the stretch of land used for farming activities, if managed well with the right farming tools and equipment, can feed half of the country, year round.
The road as well as the poor condition of the bridge leading to the community is also another hitch affecting access to the community, especially during the rains and as a result after harvest the only available market is Rokuprr and neighbouring Guinea, and sometimes when the seas are rough, the association suffers huge post-harvest losses.
Mr Mohamed Dumbuya on behalf of the community and his association appealed and assured the gathering that if Government rehabilitates and expand on the road, half of Sierra Leone will no longer consume imported rice, noting that the variety of rice produced, if not for the weeds, is top class quality grade.
To confirm that indeed Kathakare in Magbema Chiefdom is a farming community, almost all of the children join their parents immediately after school to assist in weeding, while others will carry buckets and plastic bowls to fetch water down the river.
The women also called on the Agriculture Ministry to provide modern technology to process the seed rice as it will reduce the burden of long hours of processing and drying harvested rice.