This coming Saturday, October 16, is World Food Day, an international day celebrated every year to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945.
The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with hunger and food security – and that includes Bread and Water for Africa® which for more than 20 years has been helping small holder farmers, as well as large agricultural programs operated by our partners such as the Baraka Farm in Kenya and the Rural Youth Development Organization – Sierra Leone (RYDO-SL), to increase their production capacity.
The Baraka Farm and RYDO-SL farming operations involve hundreds of acres producing corn, rice, and many more staple foods for children living in children’s homes in the two countries as well as selling surplus at local markets to help ensure their fiscal stability.
This year’s theme is “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.”
At Bread and Water for Africa®, we agree wholeheartedly, and by our actions, we are enabling small holder farmers as well to “grow, nourish, sustain” by teaching them best farming practices in cooperation with RYDO-SL.
Among them is Jebbeh Kamara, a 25-year-old mother who is raising a young daughter on her own.
She is one of the young women who benefited from the Bread and Water for Africa® COVID-19 relief support program who was provided with gardening tools, seeds and training to produce vegetables, groundnuts (peanuts), and pulses, such as dry beans and lentils, for improving her and her daughter’s diet, as well as generating income by selling the surplus.
After planting this year, she had made her first harvest and now sells her groundnuts in the community – which is highly needed, reported RYDO-SL program manager Joseph Kobba.
This year, the program benefitted 75 impoverished women and youth living in rural villages like Jeddah with the ability to establish their own businesses by training them in agricultural and entrepreneurial skills.
And as for Jebbeh herself, she wants the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa® to know how the COVID-19 relief program not only benefits her and her daughter on World Food Day – but every day.
“I appreciate the support, as my business is on track with the new knowledge I acquired from the training. Thanks to Bread and Water for Africa® for initiating such a program.”
