By Politico staff writer
The Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has on Friday 4th February 2022, joined other officials in the commissioning of agricultural machines donated to Women Farmers in Port Loko District.
The machines according to the officials is to increase food production in the district.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Abubakarr Karim said the equipment would help the farmers increase their production and yield, a process which he said is an important component of the agricultural transformation programme of the government.
Speaking at the event, the Vice President described the commissioning as part of the human capital development agenda of President Julius Maada Bio which essentially hinges on education, health, and food production. He stated that shreds of evidence have shown a massive improvement in local food production since the government rolled out its agriculture transformation programme. He said “this is the soul of bread and butter” as increased food production means increased access to cheap food. He thanked the Minister and team for their decentralized approach to support food production and called on farmers to take advantage of the goodwill of the government to support the sector.
Similar equipment will be delivered also to women farmers in other parts of the country that are involved in vegetable production.
Agriculture is one of the flagship programmes of the government of Sierra Leone with the sum of Two Hundred and Seventy Eight Billion Leones allocated to the sector in the 2022 budget. President Bio had upon assuming office, urged all government officials to engage in agriculture. There are other ongoing agricultural initiatives including the Youth Farm project and the Regional Rice Value Chain Project, all geared towards ensuring food security in the country. However, food security remains a major challenge in the face of regular price increase on imported rice which is the country’s staple food, since the locally produced rice cannot serve the entire population.
Copyright © 2022 Politico 07/02/22
