December 10, 2018
Hon. Lusine Kallon making a statement to promote Youth in Agriculture Project
Commercial motorbike riders, youth groups and stakeholders of Makeni City and Magburuka town today received the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Lusine Kallon whilst propagating the Youth in Agriculture Project.
The Government of Sierra Leone in 2014 established the Youth Farm Project, but according to the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, the Project was centralised in one location with a lot of challenges and no meaningful impact to achieve the desired results.
This and many other reasons, the Minister said, led to the re-naming of the Project to Youth In Agriculture.
He went on to say that his team of dedicated staff has decided to now review the project to give it a national face for the overall involvement of the youth across the country.
The assessment tour started on 28th November, 2018 in Kono District where the team addressed stakeholders and youth groups.
“We want to have national youth farms to fight hunger and poverty in our country, ” the Deputy Minister said.
He added that the land should be provided by the stakeholders while the support will be coming from the Government and its partners to ensure sustainability.
The Tonkolili District Agricultural Officer, Simeon Sam said if the Youth in Agriculture Project becomes sustainable; it will increase productivity of food stuff, add to the national economy and create employment for the youth.
During the focus group discussion at the Tonkolili District Council Hall, the Field Manager- Youth in Agriculture Project, Frank Amadu Bio said the focus group discussion will provide a guide and further position them during the pilot phase and planning process.
Frank encouraged the participants to suggest strategies that will attract the youth in the implementation of the project to achieve the desired result/s.
Ibrahim Bernard Turay, a participant asked: which crops are going to be used and when is the pilot phase?
In answering the aforementioned questions, Minister Kallon said, ” we are going ahead to bring the project to your doorsteps. This will help us to identify the proposed sites and recommend ways to make it workable in the North.”
He assured that nothing is impossible under the New Direction.
In another development, Minister Kallon joined the people of Makeni City and Deputy Chief Administrator of North to clean the city.
During this cleaning exercise, he told the youth that it is better to prevent than to always cure.
This, he added, will only be successful if we have a clean and dirt free environment.