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Sierra Leone News : Palm Oil Production to be Increased, as 709 Acres to be Cultivated in Tonkolili
Sierra Leone News : Palm Oil Production to be Increased, as 709 Acres to be Cultivated in Tonkolili
05/05/2017 (Awareness Times) - In its effort to revamp palm oil production in Sierra Leone, the Smallholder Commercialization Programme-Global Agriculture Food Security Programme is implementing a direct Tree crop Support project that is aim at supporting three thousand farmers in its nine operational districts across Sierra Leone.
According to the Programme Manager, Peter M. Kaindaneh, the project will be embarking on massive support exercise for the cultivation of about 750 acres of oil palm across Tonkolili district. He made this disclosure during a field inspection on the project oil palm nursery at Njala where about Five Hundred and forty thousand varieties are been nursed.
Farmers formed the bulk of the population of Sierra Leone, but they are mostly subsistence and they formed the backbone of Sierra Leone’s economy.
Therefore, if the country’s growth and development agenda are to be realized, he said priorities should be placed on both the individual and organizational growth of the farmer’s wealth.
In a bid to actualizing this dream, the Government of Sierra Leone saw the need to prioritize the Smallholder Commercialization Programme as having the potential to achieve the greatest impact in terms of improved food security and wealth generation for the most vulnerable in the short and medium term.
The District Agriculture Officer for Tonkolili district Alie Lakkoh said the district has one oil palm industry at Yele, and the industry he said is even catering for more palm fruit to feed the growing industry, and getting support from the out growers he said will enable the industry to be on full operation. Mr. Lakkoh furthered that the project has supported the training of agronomists in the best practices in oil palm production. Simon Sam the Tonkolili district crop officer said his work is to see a multiplication of food and tree crops, he continued that the crop division in theministry is well prepared to receive the over forty thousand seedlings for cultivation.
He concluded that the ministry will continue to support farmers to improve oil palm production for the benefit of the country.
According to the Programme Manager, Peter M. Kaindaneh, the project will be embarking on massive support exercise for the cultivation of about 750 acres of oil palm across Tonkolili district. He made this disclosure during a field inspection on the project oil palm nursery at Njala where about Five Hundred and forty thousand varieties are been nursed.
Farmers formed the bulk of the population of Sierra Leone, but they are mostly subsistence and they formed the backbone of Sierra Leone’s economy.
Therefore, if the country’s growth and development agenda are to be realized, he said priorities should be placed on both the individual and organizational growth of the farmer’s wealth.
In a bid to actualizing this dream, the Government of Sierra Leone saw the need to prioritize the Smallholder Commercialization Programme as having the potential to achieve the greatest impact in terms of improved food security and wealth generation for the most vulnerable in the short and medium term.
The District Agriculture Officer for Tonkolili district Alie Lakkoh said the district has one oil palm industry at Yele, and the industry he said is even catering for more palm fruit to feed the growing industry, and getting support from the out growers he said will enable the industry to be on full operation. Mr. Lakkoh furthered that the project has supported the training of agronomists in the best practices in oil palm production. Simon Sam the Tonkolili district crop officer said his work is to see a multiplication of food and tree crops, he continued that the crop division in theministry is well prepared to receive the over forty thousand seedlings for cultivation.
He concluded that the ministry will continue to support farmers to improve oil palm production for the benefit of the country.