With $34.1 Million Rice project … Where is the Torma Bum Rice?
By Our Staff Writer
Many Sierra Leoneans continue to express concern and inquire about the whereabouts of the Torma Bum Rice project, following a significant increase in rice prices and an overreliance on imported rice.
The government allocated a total of $34.1 million towards the project with the aim of achieving food self-sufficiency in the country.
It could be called that, during the launching of the $34.1 million Regional Rice Value Chain Project in Torma Bum, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio emphasized the importance of food security as a critical pillar for human capital development in the country. It was expected that the project will benefit 7,000 women and youth farmers and 35,000 farming families who will grow rice on 35,000 hectares of farmlands in the project locations.
Unfortunately, with the huge money spent on the Torma Bum project to ensure food self-security in country, the government is still spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually in the importation of rice from the world market, which could have been allocated to the energy sector.
President Julius Maada Bio recently launched the Feed Salone Program, the flagship initiative of the SLPP’s second term in governance. Many believe that a thorough investigation into the utilization of the $34.1 million Regional Rice Value Chain Project in Torma Bum is essential for the success of the Feed Salone Program.
