Contributed
In what is believed to be one of the largest ever humanitarian supports given to highly food insecure communities in Sierra Leone, members of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Canada branch have cultivated one hundred acres of rice farm in Barleh Village Kpanga Chiefdom and Forbu in the Kpanga Krim Chiefdom Pujehun District Southern Sierra Leone.
Both Barleh and Forbu are six and eight miles away from the district headquarter town of Pujehun. They are few of the communities in the district that have vast acres of swamp lands.
Pujehun is one of the poorest districts in southern Sierra Leone in which its four hundred thousand inhabitants (according to data from 2021 Mid Term Population and Housing Census) largely depend on subsistence farming but this has not been too successful over the years because of climate change and lack of farming skills by local farmers.
The staple food for the majority of Sierra Leoneans is rice but the cost in the markets within the country has now doubled due to rising inflation that is blamed on the Russia invasion of Ukraine. The move to plant one hundred acres of rice in Pujehun according to Dr. Lamin Massaquoi Chariman for the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Canada Chapter, is to support President Julius Maada Bio’s agenda to achieve food sufficiency in the country and to also save families from going without food as most people cannot afford the cost of rice which is sold at $50 USD for a 50kg.
He informed that during one of President Bio’s visits to United State, he engaged with Sierra Leoneans there and encouraged them to come home and help develop the country which the SLPP Canada wasted no time but immediately answered to the call of the President that saw the growing of rice for the people of Pujehun and by extension Sierra Leone.
Dr. Lamin made this disclosure at Barleh community during their SLPP Canada Chapter farming site visit on Saturday October 1, 2022. Dr. Massaquoi adds that the 100 acre project is just a pilot phase stressing that their plan is to do a total of 500 acres in 2023 if this becomes successful so that thousands of Sierra Leoneans will have access to food at an affordable cost. Dr. Massaquoi revealed that two dryers (drying floors) were constructed in the two communities to help the people process the rice once harvested.
He applauded the efforts of other SLPP chapters in other parts of the world especially those in North America who donated motorbikes and other relief items to victims of the Wellington fire accident that claimed many lives in 2022 and called for “healthy competitions among all chapters of the SLPP” as this will help the country grow rapidly.
Dr. Massaquoi concluded by appreciating what he referred to as the “massive oneness, unity and supports that the Canada branch of the SLPP is enjoying from among its members as well as that which is coming from the leaders of the party back home especially during the course of their farming endeavors.
Another SLPP Chapter member Hawa Massaquoi was particularly impressed with the participation of women in the project. She said as long as the people are ready to embrace development they (SLPP Canada) will continue to lobby for more development needs of the people of Sierra Leone. She said one of the only ways the country will develop is through investment in mechanized agriculture which is what they have started.
Explaining the gains of the two rice varieties that were planted, the District Agricultural Officer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Sierra Leone, Alex Fisam said both the Nerica L19 and Rok 34 rice which 55 acres were planted in Barleh and 45 in Forbu are high yielding varieties that can be produced thrice a year and can feed thousands of families within the year.
He said his ministry is particularly grateful to the SLPP Canada Chapter in their bid to minimize hunger and lift people out of poverty which is consistent with the dream of President Bio. Mr. Fisam called on other “well-meaning Sierra Leoneans home and abroad to give back to their communities especially during this period of global crisis.” He appealed to the SLPP Canada branch to provide bird nets so that the rice would not be destroyed by the birds when it would be booting up flowers.
Sombo Kaikai, a 58 year old woman, is one of the community coordinators of the projects who believe that the only way human beings can continue to live is when they eat food. Getting rice according to Madam Sombo has been very challenging for the people of her communities but now that SLPP Canada Chapter has decided to put a smile on their faces, then no one from the farming communities will again go to bed with hunger.
“We have to claim ownership of this rice and help prevent it from destruction by the birds and other rodents. That is the only way we can realize the benefit of it,” said Mrs. Kaikai and further described the project as a blessing in disguise brought to them by members of the Sierra Leone People’s Canada Chapter.
Speaking on behalf of the local government, Councilor Mohamed Neroh Mansaray whose ward (Ward 365 at Barleh) where one of the farm sites is said Pujehun District Council is very impressed with such a vast investment in the people’s staple food by the SLPP Canada. He continued that this is a clear manifestation that the Sierra Leone People’s Party is a developmentally oriented party that is always ready to respond to the felt needs of the people.
He assured the SLPP Canada Chapter of his council’s fullest support towards the success of the project and also assured the chapter that their names will go down the history books of Sierra Leone for such a wonderful sacrifice they have made to the most vulnerable communities in the district.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) who is the current Deputy Internal Affairs Minister Lahai Lawrence Leema told the people of Pujehun District that President Bio made a promise to Sierra Leoneans when he was campaigning for the seat of president in 2018 that he will introduce Human Capital Development as his flagship programme. Mr. Leema believes that the president has already delivered the promise.
The Deputy Internal Affairs Minister further revealed that the Human Capital Development has three components including food security, quality and affordable health service delivery and Free Quality School Education which are pivotal to the government development aspirations of Sierra Leone. He said the past APC government of Ernest Bai Koroma promised to better the lives of Sierra Leoneans in his eleven years rule but failed to deliver on that promise which is why president Bio had to start all over again.
Mr. Leema stressed that the SLPP Canada did not make any mistake in investing in agriculture adding that they did so as part of the challenge the President threw to Sierra Leoneans out of this country to come home and invest in agriculture, education and health care. He emphasized that it is what exactly the SLPP Canada has done and they will forever be remembered “for putting food on the tables of many poor families.”
Mr. Leema also praised the general membership of the SLPP in Canada for their continuous engagement and willingness to always work with the national officials of the party in Sierra Leone whenever they are called upon.
The farm site visit was climaxed by a cultural performance where showers of praises were poured on the Canadian Chapter of the Sierra Leone People’s Party.
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