By: Kebba AF Touray from Wuli Sutukoba
Horticulture producers in Wuli East village of Sutukoba in the URR, have welcomed the establishment of ROOTS garden in the village, and said this will boost nutrition and livelihood of villagers.
The producers said this on Monday 9th January 2023, during an interview held at the site, coinciding with the distribution of vegetable seedlings to them.
Derreh Fofana, a female gardener, expressed gratitude to the officials of the ROOTS Project to the village, which she described as life changing.
“I want to congratulate the men of Sutukoba for allowing their wives the needed time to work in the garden, and welcome the water crisis which has now been resolved and at the moment we are planting our seedlings,” she remarked.
Fofana said the benefit that they will generate from the garden is numerous, but daid they lack the market to sell their produce and this is a major challenge that she wants to urge Officials of the project to help them with.
On her part, Mbayeh Camara, said with this garden, the practice they are used to, will be a thing of the past, and will guarantee a practice where producers will produce diverse varieties and will buy goods from one another. While welcoming the construction of a water tank with solar panels and reservoirs for the provision of water in the garden, she appealed for additional tanks to ensure that water is available at the garden around the clock.
Fatoumatta Juwara, Secretary to the Farmer’s Field School, said the objective of bringing the garden to the village is to empower women producers in the area of horticultural production.
“We used to have one main garden and that is sufficient to accommodate all the vegetable growers in the village. With the coming of the ROOTS garden project, those who are not fortunate to have a plot in the old garden can have a plot in this garden,” she said. She explained that the garden will eradicate a system where growers will buy produce from outsiders, and will also ensure that producers generate their livelihood from the sale of their produce.
Muhammed Jabai, on behalf of the Youth in the village, challenge young people to join hands with the women to ensure the success of the garden, and boost the nutrition of villagers.
Yankuba Jabai, Assistant Secretary of the Women ROOTS Garden Committee, reported that the garden will accommodate seven hundred women vegetable growers. He explained that they have distributed seedlings such as onion and green pepper, and other seedlings for other crops will be distributed today Tuesday 10th January 2023.
Ba Tamba Kamaso, on behalf of the Committee, reiterated that the garden will boost the health status of the people of Sutukoba village, but clarified that the objective of charging each woman a fee of D100, is to ensure the smooth repairs and maintenance of the garden.
