November 2, 2021
By: MOHAMED M. SESAY
In adherence with the clarion call made by President Julius Maada Bio urging all Sate Actors to invest in agriculture, the Deputy Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), Jeneba Kpaka Bangura, has on Saturday the 30th of October 2021, made a bumper harvest of one hundred acres of rice farm for the people of Niahun Kpaka, Pujehun District.
In delivering a glad tiding to the People of Niahun community, Madam Jeneba Kpaka Bangura assured that the harvest will be shared among the community people.
She said there will also be o reserve grains for the next farming season.
“After the harvesting I am going to share the rice among the community people because I cannot come and cultivate such massive rice farm and take the rice to Freetown”.
She stated that there has not been a real time farming activities on a large scale such as what has been cultivated and harvested.
She reassured that her farming activity in that part of the country is going to be sustainable, noting that, she is not a fly by night farmer.
“This is just a sample of what is yet to happen and I am not only doing rice, I am also doing vegetables”.
Madam Bangura commended the people of Niahun especially the women for being very supportive towards the farming activity. She added that the success stories of the farm could also be linked to the support she received from government through the use of tractors that government gave to Pujehun District.
The Deputy Commissioner General also disclosed that in 2021, they decided as a community to engage in massive rice cultivation and other vegetables. She said the entire land that was given to her by the community people is one hundred and fifty acres, but she decided to do just about one hundred acres purposely for rice and other vegetables. “What I did is in line with President Bio’s clarion call to all state actors to invest in farming so that we can eat what we grow”
Jeneba Bangura however intimated that, the farming activities have been very challenging. She said she mobilized five communities to help her work on the farm. She further stated that she would have preferred to do the farm mechanically by having machines to work on the farm for the harvest but there was means of accessing a mechanized combined harvester.
“I have been talking to other good friends of mine especially the suppliers for Pujehun District to help me with a machine so that we can do this mechanically. The work is very much labor intensive and have been paying the community people to help me do the work collectively. So I am going to give back to the community and this is my own way of paying back to the community in promoting food sufficiency in the community.
She also appealed rehabilitation of the road linking the farm so that the agricultural products from the community can be easily transported to nearby markets for the economic viability of the community. She stressed that road linking Niahun to other communities is very terrible and therefore, wants the Council to help fix the road.
In her appreciation message, the Town Chief of Niahun Kpaka madam Isata Massaquoi disclosed that it has been a very long time the community has not been engaged in such a large scale l farming activity.
She described the harvest in the community as a very big boost for the people of Niahun and its surroundings. Chief Massaquoi affirmed that they leased the land to Madam Bangura for thirty years so that she can continue working on the land as her large scale farming initiative has tremendous benefit to them as community people.
Chief Massaquoi furthered that Prior to the arrival of Deputy Commissioner General’s farming initiative. It has been very difficult for them in the community. She expressed that she is very pleased with the Deputy Commissioner General for her support especially the commitment made for the people to have access to machineries in order to boost agricultural activities in due course.
“There is a lot of benefits for us as community people because the harvest alone done by Madam Jeneda Bangura will reduce hunger in the community and also provide seedlings for us. We don’t have money to hire machines but Madam Jeneba did that and we are now harvesting the rice which is a big boost for us”. Chief Massaquoi concluded.