Chinese embassy donates agricultural equipment to Sierra Leone

On November 1, 2022, the Chinese Embassy, represented by Ambassador Li Xiaoyong, donated 500 rice transplanters, 400 mobile rice threshers, 400 winnowers, 400 brush cutters, 400 knapsack manual sprayers, 200 grease guns, 200 repair tool kits, 100 chain saws, 100 hand drills, 60 rice whiteners, 10 diesel welder sets, and 5 diesel generator sets to Sierra Leone.

The purpose of the donation was to help alleviate food insecurity by improving farmer productivity.

The agricultural equipment will be stored in two Farm Service Centres, one of which will be located at the Gberay Junction in Port Loko District to serve farmers around 100,000 hectares of the rice bowl of Kambia, Port Loko, Tonkolili, Falaba and Koinadugu Districts in the northern region.

The other will be located in Bo to serve 160,000 hectares of arable rice-producing areas of Bo, Bonthe, Pujehun, Moyamba and Tonkolili Districts. The consignment was received by President Dr. Julius Maada Bio.

During the ceremony, the President mentioned that the machines would be used in Farm Services Centers that would be located in the rice-producing centers throughout Sierra Leone such as at the Gberay Junction in Port Loko District and Bo. The Minister of Agriculture, Abubakarr Karim, was also in attendance and spoke at the ceremony.