The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has donated a total of thirty-one motorbikes worth $30,335 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) in Sierra Leone. The donation aims to enhance the mobility of the MAFS staff and improve their access to remote and hard-to-reach rural areas where they provide technical support to farmers engaged in agriculture and marketing activities.
The handover ceremony took place on the 7th and 8th September 2023 at the WFP Sub-Offices in Kenema and Makeni. The motorbikes will be distributed to eight districts: Tonkolili, Pujehun, Moyamba, Kambia, Kenema, Koinadugu, Falaba, and Bonthe.
Handing over the motorbikes, Celina Auko, the Head of WFP Kenema Sub-Office, said that the donation would help to overcome the challenges faced by the technical staff of the Ministry in reaching out to the farmers. She added that the support would also help to boost the production of farmers who in turn would sell their produce to the home-grown school feeding programme and to realise the Feed Salone initiative of the Government.
Michael Stanley, the acting Head of WFP Makeni Sub-Office, echoed the same sentiment and said that this collaborative effort between WFP and MAFS underscores their commitment in advancing agriculture, promoting food security and ensuring that remote communities receive the needed support to achieve zero hunger.
Receiving the motorbikes on behalf of MAFS, the Assistant Director of Extension, Arouna Rashid Kamara, expressed his gratitude to WFP for the donation and said that mobility of frontline staff was key to ensuring food security. He said that this was the kind of complementary support needed to realise the dream of the Government.
The District Agricultural Officers from the eight districts also thanked WFP for the timely donation and said that it would enable them to reach and support more communities farthest behind. Prior to this donation, WFP had used the services of community youth contractors, where it was difficult for frequent visits by the MAFS technical staff to promote knowledge exchange and peer learning in best agronomic practices.
The handover of keys to the motorbikes concluded the ceremony.
