The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Country review team has visited the Ministry of Agriculture’s Regional Rice Value Chain Project (RRVCP), in Bum Chiefdom, Bonthe District, to assess the activities undertaken by RRVCP since the commencement of the project in 2021.
The IsDB team is here in Sierra Leone on a mission review and engage the various projects being funded by the Islamic Development Bank in the country, to discuss their bottlenecks, pave the way forward, and to fast track the implementation process of the various projects.
On the 7th of August, the team engaged project management units in the Ministry of Agriculture, Health, and the National Commission for Social Action ( NaSCA) at the Ministry of Finance, where the various project management units in the respective ministries made presentations on the status of their respective projects.
The team proceeds to Torma Bum on the 8th of August to assess the ongoing infrastructural work (the rural markets, stores, and milling houses) and commended the RRVCP team for the good work so far.
They were also taken to the proposed site for the irrigation infrastructure, which is very close to Sewa River, and where the 35 km road will be done to ease movement for farmers and the community people.
The Project Engineer, Alhaji Mohamed Sesay explained to them that the design was done by Spectrum Engineering an international company, and contractors will be hired to work on the irrigation design in a few months.
Meeting with the community stakeholders the mission review Team Lead, Omar Davies reiterated, ”We are happy to be here, the IsBD has supported many projects in the country for the past 40 years in education, agriculture, and health. This is one of the best projects though we’re not there yet 100% but we’re getting there. The Project has so many stakeholders that is working with. The road to Torma Bum has to be improved on.”
He informed his gathering that they working with the Ministry of Agriculture to bring another project may be on livestock.
The Town Chief of Bum Chiefdom, Bonthe District, Mustapha Gumbu, thanked the review team for the support the bank is providing to the farmers in Torma Bum, and for that they are grateful.
The team was accompanied by the newly appointed NaSCA Commissioner, Chief Ernest Ndomahina.
The review team will continue with the engagement from Wednesday to Friday including brainstorming to design other projects for Sierra Leone.
Credit: Communications unit-MAFS
