By Paul Lamin in Kenema
The District Director of Agriculture in Kenema, Philip Gana Conteh, has said in Kenema that His Excellency, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, is very serious and passionate about agriculture and the business of farmers is deep in his heart.
Mr. Gana Conteh made this statement on Wednesday 15th July 2020 at the Lambayama ABC Center during two days of training for farmers on Business Development Services (BDS).
The Director who was just from Freetown said they were from a meeting called by the Ministry of Agriculture to update districts on the innovative steps the ministry and the government are employing to improve farming in the country. He stated that there are a lot of opportunities for farmers, adding that a lot of donors have pledged support to improve agriculture in Sierra Leone.
The District Director said President Bio has won the confidence and admiration of agro business investors and many have shown commitment to invest in the agriculture business sector. He called on farmers to take their farming seriously as many opportunities are available for them, adding that gone are the days when farming was only done for family consumption.
Mr. Henry Kings, Program & Agribusiness Officer, Sierra Leone Chamber for Agribusiness Development (SLeCAD), said the two days intensive training will help farmers develop their own business plans, which will enable them access funds from potential donors and sponsors.
Mr. Kings said SLeCAD, as an advocacy organization, is working in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture to link farmers to source of funding so that they can improve on their business activities. The program officer noted that, during this period of Covid19 Emergency, farmers have suffered a lot and most of them have missed opportunities of farming.
He said, after the Corona virus, the country is likely to have food shortage and, as such, farmers must be motivated to go into intense farming to tackle the problem of food insufficiency. He called on the trainees to cascade the training to colleagues who were not part of the program. He promised that more training opportunities were on the way for farmers.
A total of 50 participants attended the training.