Farmers in Campbell Town in the Western Area Rural District of Waterloo have on Wednesday called on the government to supply fertilizers, insecticides and seeds to help them improve on the yield.
Aminata Mansaray has been farming in the community for over 30 years, and she has no other means of earning income except farming. She had spent most of her life farming to sustain and take care of her family.
She grows swamp rice, and harvests some for sale and some for family consumption. “We as farmers here are striving to make ends meet, but since we started we have no support from the government.”
She said that sometimes they could not afford farm tools and seeds. She added that at such times they do not plant, thus disrupting their means of earning a living.
Mansaray explained that lack of insecticides also leads to poor crop yield. “Sometimes we do not realize what we suffer for the entire year. We are asking the government to pay more attention on farming in the country if they want to reduce the high unemployment rate and reduce poverty in Sierra Leone.
“Agriculture is the backbone of any nation. There are people who could do farming effectively but they don’t have the opportunities to go on,” he said.
She said that, if the government pays more attention to the agricultural sector in the country, the country would stop importing rice and other agricultural products.
She appealed to the government to help them with farm tools, pesticides, fertilizers and other essential materials that would make their farming activities go on smooth and to produce better crops.
She works on a small tract of land. “I grow crops according to my earning power, if there is an opportunity for me, I would grow as much as I could. Farming can help individuals as well as nation. Farming does not only create income for the farmers, but also it contributes in the creation of revenue for the nation. So I encourage fellow Sierra Leoneans to pay more attention on farming.”
By Ibrahim S. Bangura