US60M World Bank Support To Agriculture
…Seeds & Farming Tools To Farmers
By Mohamed Konneh
The Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security Amb. Abu Bakarr Karim over the weekend intimated the media on the US60 Million World Bank support to the country’s Agriculture sector.
“We currently have a project with the World Bank called “Food System Resilient Project”. It’s a Sixty Million Dollars supported project that supports cash transfer to vulnerable communities through NACSA and food for work which is done through FAO, he said.
The project according to the minister is going to impact over 800 households including thirty hectares of land that will be utilized for food production.
The farming calendar is starting this weekend and we will be up country to support farmers with seeds and other agricultural inputs, the Minister said.
“This project has three key value chains and this include casava and rice production and vegetables. This is geared towards diversifying food production and the reason why casava production is on the table, Amb. Karim said.’
‘The focus is to add on our food production and to impact the entire country. We have difficulty in food production and with this funding we want to make sure we produce more food by supporting groups to work within their communities. Through this project we are going to support over eight hundred households, the Minister said.’
The Minister of Agriculture also noted that the government is spending around US240 Million on the importation of rice alone and this is affecting the dollarization of the country.
This he said is not good for the country and the reason why agriculture has been prioritized with more attention put on the sector especially food production.
‘Our food importation per year is costing government around four hundred million dollars and we cannot continue like this. This is the more reason why agriculture is been prioritized. Agriculture is going to be the flagship program for the next five years under President Bio.
Amb. Karim said as part of the human capital development the government of President Bio is now turning its attention to agriculture and that machines have been brought in through the private sector arrangement that were distributed to the sixteen political district that are now benefiting farmers.
He said as of 2021 food production went up by nine hundred sixteen thousand two hundred eighty-eight metric tons.
‘This is expected to go up with more input into the sector taking into cognizance what government is currently doing, the Minister said.’
The Minister thanked the World Bank for providing the funds and that the funding is coming at the start of the farming calendar.
