By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The district director of Agriculture Kenema Philip Gannah Conteh has on 29th March 2021 officially presented 7 tractors and 25 tillers to Bondibu Agricultural Engineering company that won the contract for management of the farm equipment from government.
Addressing farmers, Conteh spoke about the new direction government’s policy shift which brought on board Public Private Partnership into the agricultural sector.
He said, the rationale for that was due to the burden on the Ministry of Agriculture which is overwhelmed by activities. Farmers have experienced seeds reaching them late for the planting season.
Conteh stated that, in order to avoid too much excuses from farmers , the Ministry has decided to introduce the private sector so that farmers will be opportune to improve productivity as farming is time bound. Encouraging private sector investment into mechanized farming was what also prompted the government through the Ministry of Finance to make the funds available for purchase of the machinery.
Farmers will access the equipment through Bondibu for a very reasonable hiring fee.
Conteh further stated that the government has decided to support registered farmers in the district with six hundred hectares of land.
The company will be based at Agriculture Compound with a garage for easy access and efficient service delivery to farmers. He assured the farmers that the work will start very soon and stated priority will be given to youth farming groups at chiefdom level.
The Managing Director of Bondibu Alusine Minah assured the farmers that the company is over prepared to support them in promoting agricultural productivity that will ensure food productivity in the country.
He stated that they have worked in other districts with tangible evidences to promote agriculture as there is enough manpower to manage the farming equipment properly
A civil society representative Augustine Sannoh commended the government for paying attention to agriculture.He stated that as civil society their concern is for government to revisit the cost of hiring of the machines so they can be affordable to local farmers.
”We as civil society will be there to monitor the implementation and uses of the machines,” Sannoh revealed.
The chairman Kenema district Council Mohamed Amodu Sesay said, government has put education and agriculture as its flagship programmes for the country and that the public private partnership is to see how best to ensure food self -sufficiency.
He appealed to the farmers especially young people to embrace the “golden opportunity” as agriculture is the backbone for the development of the country.
The district council chairman expressed dismay over the abandoning of swamps that were developed by IFAD over the years and therefore encouraged the company not to be partial in issuing out the machines snd should only those merited and ready to work. .He advised the farmers to make good use of the opportunity and called on all to be committed in ensuring that the vision of the government becomes achievable.
One of the farming group representative Mathew Tamba Nyuma from Nongowa thanked the government for the support given to the farmers and affirmed their commitment as farmers to achieve the vision of the government.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (31/03/21)
