BY: Hassan Alimamy Kamara
The Communications person of the Smallholder Commercialization and Agribusiness Development Project (SCADEP) a unit in the Ministry of Agriculture, Abraham B Karl Samura, has said in a bid to improve and promote agriculture and its activities across the country, confirmed that a total of three hundred (300km) kilometers of feeder roads has been constructed across the district level by SCADEP. Mr Samura said the objective of SCADEP is to enhance Agricultural productivity, creating market linkages and making access of finances to Farmers. This he confirmed that it has been a challenge for farmers to transport their produce to market areas, especially for perishable goods which he said cannot stand for long without getting spoiled.
He said it has remained a challenge to access some of the farming areas, the move to such development is worthwhile. He continued that they also do sports improvement, identifying of culverts and bridges which connect to farming areas and get them constructed to create necessary linkages, he said. With this, through support from the World Bank project, got them to do several infrastructural developments; on which he said seven major crossing points have been identified to be constructed. He said this on Thursday 20th October 2022, at the national weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Youyi Building in Freetown.
Explaining further, Mr Samura said Mattru Jong, Gendema, Sumbuya and four others to benefit from the seven identified crossing points. He added that funds for four of the seven identified crossing points have been secured and that the first phase of it to start with immediate effect, he assured. He said the identified crossing points have been struggling with a means of transportation with the manual ferry being serving as a way for them, he testified.
Moving forward, Mr Samura said they have been providing support trainings for both private and the public sectors and work with farmers to improve agricultural Commercialization, they monitor and do follow ups. When talk infrastructural developments, he said they work with the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Trade when they talk commerce. He said his organization focused on several components on which he said key among them is to give support to people engage in agriculture. Next he said as road network a key component in complementing the activities of agriculture, said the need to build feeder roads is critical, since having to transport with perishable goods to market centers, on which he said the construction of the 300km roads across various districts is centered. Another he said has to do with capacity building both state and non state actors to equip them with the needed knowledge on farming activities.
Mr Samura said among the key challenges the farmers faced with is the timelines on doing their planting, which he said very important on the yield they realize per hectare. He emphasized that majority of the Farmers missed out on when they should plant or not. This he said the Ministry of Agriculture to be engaged for trainings and also had a discussion around the contingency emergency Response, a call center that will provide with support to farmers to ask relevant questions with regard any type of crop they need to know as to how to handle it.
He assured that the ministry has engaged the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to help with the needed support of these farmers to contribute to high yield production.
