The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) joint supervision mission team is in Sierra Leone to assess the activities of the Regional Rice Value Chain Project in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on Saturday, 14th July 2024.

The primary objective of the mission is to inspect various project activities funded by the Bank, particularly the development of 4,000 hectares of irrigation in Tormabum to increase rice production.

Upon receiving the team, the Paramount Chief of Bum Chiefdom, Bonthe District, PC Alex Maada Kaipumu, expressed gratitude to the Islamic Development Bank for supporting rice development through the irrigation scheme in Tormabum. He reiterated the Chiefdom’s excitement with the contractor and noted that the completion of the irrigation project would significantly boost the Government’s Feed Salone program.

Sabiu Auwal, Operations Team Lead for Agriculture and a member of the IsDB mission team, shared his positive impression of the project activities in Tormabum. He highlighted the progress seen in the construction of the irrigation scheme, the rehabilitation of two warehouses, the construction of one new warehouse, two prefab milling houses, two stores, and the rehabilitation of 35 km of road. He emphasized that the completed facilities should be handed over for proper utilization and urged the contractor to expedite the work to avoid delays.

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Alhaji Mohamed Sesay, Project Engineer of the Regional Rice Value Chain Project, noted that the contractor, Pavifort Associates, has been fully mobilized for the construction of the irrigation scheme and road rehabilitation since March this year. The irrigation project is expected to last 18 months, while the road rehabilitation will take 12 months.

Mohamed Kamara, General Manager at Pavifort Associates, confirmed that they are fully mobilized for the construction of the irrigation scheme and the rehabilitation of the road from Victoria in Tormabum to Manokioganya.

The mission members include Br. Javed Khan, Senior Agriculture Specialist-LLF (Team Lead), Br. Sabiu Auwal, Operations Team Leader (Regional Hub Dakar), and Sr. Asma Bousdira, Project Management Specialist-1 (Regional Hub Dakar). The team is accompanied by representatives from the Ministry of Finance and technical staff from the Regional Rice Value Chain Project.