By Mary Kabay
On December 17th, 2020 the Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, His Excellency HU Zangliang, donated some farming equipments to the government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at the ministry’s warehouse at Shell, kissy. The event was graced by dignitaries including the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Abubakarr Karim, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Hidara Sheriff and many more.
Hidara Sheriff, in his welcome address, thanked the ambassador and the Chinese government for their relentless work towards the Agriculture Ministry and the country as a whole. He recalled the mid-70s, when China introduced mechanized farming in Sierra Leone.
Ambassador HU Zangliang said he is thrilled to see a lot of zeal being put into the Agricultural sector of the country, and expressed happiness in handing over the items to the government of Sierra Leone for the improvement of the agricultural sector. He furthered that China is a country with large population, but can still feed itself and also help others, due to the attention they have placed on the agricultural sector in their country. Hard work is one of their watch words that has helped them to produce food for themselves, and advised Sierra Leone to put more effort in Agriculture so as to be self-sufficient.
He maintained that as President Bio has made agriculture one of his priorities, China is ready to help in achieving that dream. Among the items handed over were: 1 semi-automatic Rice seeder,1 rice Transplanter, 1 rice harvester,17 sets of 15 HP power Tiller, 11sets of rice ploughers, 9 sets of Combined Rice Mills, 2 sets of rice Dis-stoner, 21 sets of rice threshers and 15 rice Manual Rice Winnower. The Ambassador hoped that with the assistance of the Chinese expert, these equipments will be put into the right use.
Dr. Abubakarr Karim, in his keynote address, explained the good relationship between Sierra Leone and China, stressing that this has been manifested through the aid china has been giving, not only to the agricultural factor, but to others also. He assured the ambassador that the equipments will be secured and they will be rationally distributed to the different districts through the private sector, which they want to take over the agricultural system in the country, under the watchful eyes of the Ministry of Agriculture.
After the signing of the donation document by the Minister and the Ambassador, Ing. Steven A. Fofanah, thanked everyone present and expressed hope for the full use of the equipments.
During conducted tour of the warehouse, ministry engineers explained that the machines have a year guarantee and that the workers have the knowledge to handle the machines, adding that some are very easy to operate. On the issue of spares for the machines, he furthered that they are available and in the event that repairs are needed, the Chinese technical team will be responsible to do the repairs.
