By Janet A. Sesay
As part of his ongoing efforts to support farmers and promote agricultural development across Sierra Leone, the leading flagbearer aspirant in the All People’s Congress (APC) party, Sheikh Alhaji Mohamed Omodu Kamara, otherwise popularly known as “Jagaban”, has said that putting emphasis on agriculture across the country would be a powerful pathway to strengthening Sierra Leone’s food security drive and at the same time enhance job creation, empowerment of young people and expanding economic opportunities across the country.
Jagaban made clarion statement during his engagements with farmers in Rosar Section in Koya Chiefdom in Port Loko District where he had gone on visitation to a number of cassava and corn farms. His principal mission was to engage with farmers and assess their works and the progress being made under his broader agricultural support initiative across the country.
Speaking to the farmers, Jagaban emphasized that agriculture goes beyond the cultivation of crops. He said the sector plays a critical role in strengthening national food security, creating employment opportunities, empowering young people and improving the livelihoods of families and communities.
He noted that Sierra Leone has enormous agricultural potentials, and that farmers remain at the heart of unlocking those potentials. He maintained that for farmers to unlock the immense agriculture potentials in the country requires the provision of adequate resources to farmers including implements, inputs like fertilizers and insecticides and most importantly the financial resources to enable them pay for repairs, inputs and extra labour.
“With these in place, I am certain that our farmers will increase production of our various foodstuffs, and with enough to eat, the balance could be sold to improve their household incomes and build more resilient communities,” Jagaban affirmed.
He encouraged young Sierra Leoneans to consider agriculture and agribusiness not simply as traditional means of livelihoods, but as profitable and sustainable ventures capable generating wealth, creating jobs and contributing significantly to national development.
Jagaban said he will continue to support farmers, with a particular focus on helping them increase food production, improve their livelihoods and take advantage of opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
He therefore called on individuals and communities to invest in agriculture, describing such a venture as “essential to strengthening food security, promoting economic growth and securing a more prosperous future for Sierra Leone.”
“I have every belief that with agriculture Sierra Leone can develop a powerful pathway to strengthening its food security drive, create employment, empower young people and expand economic opportunities for communities across the country,” the popular Entrepreneur turn politician affirmed.
He assured farmers across the country that his support would continue as part of his broader commitment to strengthening communities and contributing to the growth and general development of Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector.