By: Problyn J. Alpha
With support from the American people through the United States Embassy, HEALEY International Relief Foundation in collaboration with Caritas and Njala University has organized a five-day sustainable agricultural and business development symposium for over fifty (50) women in Agricultural Activities in Bo District.
Addressing all present at the School of Community Health Sciences auditorium paramedical campus Bo Kenema Highway in Bo, the in-Country Manager of HEALEY Foundation Ishmael Alfred Charles thanked everyone for attending the agricultural and business development symposium. He said women in agriculture were purposely targeted to increase their yield in terms of agricultural production for the betterment of their livelihood.
Mr. Charles maintained that the importance of the symposium would help improve the market base of women into an available productive enterprise. He further disclosed that women constitute 52% of the country’s population and it is against that backdrop the organizers have thought it fit to increase the knowledge base of women farmers thereby complementing their day-to-day efforts in agriculture.
Ishmael Charles encouraged women, and farmers, to learn how to broaden their knowledge in agricultural activities stressing that as they often use to burn the bushes, they are damaging the soil and the environment in general.
The in-country Manager described the symposium as an experience-sharing engagement whereas farmers from the United States and Sierra Leone were trained on how to manage honey production, plant vegetable maintenance of backyard gardens and the prevention of their goats, chickens, sheep and other domestic animals from external diseases.
He added that the training also focuses on the preservation of seedlings or crops for the subsequent planting seasons.
Again, Ishmael Charles concluded by encouraging the participants to add value to their agriculture production adding that for far too long, women farmers in the agricultural sector are not fully enjoying their labour due to the knowledge they use to utilize the land.
On his part, the Head of the Department of Animal Health Sciences at Njala University who also doubles as the consultant for the training Professor Roland Soluku thanked the organizers for selecting him to train business people and farmers on sustainable agricultural practices.
He maintained that land use for agricultural activities is sometimes not properly managed by the farmers and other land users noting burning the soil is not good for the environment, especially for crop production. He said such practice has made farmers reap less during harvest time due to the lack of nutritious values in the soil.
He advised participants of the symposium to stop burning charcoal and causing deforestation as it will have negative impacts on the productivity of agricultural initiatives. Professor Soluku further disclosed that the growing of crops in Sierra Leone is not the situation affecting farmers, but the market which is not available to farmers.
He stated that the soil is acidic and the use of fertilizers on plants is very bad and it has some health hazards.
While a participant from Valuania Chiefdom Bo District Marie Macathy described the training as very educative and timely. She said as a rice and vegetable farmer, the symposium did not go in vain confessing that she had been a contributing factor damaging the land but with the knowledge gained from the symposium, she assured all that such will never repeat itself.
Meanwhile, the distribution of certificates of participation and Andrea BLU Phones including solar lights to participants climaxed the symposium.
