The German Technical Cooperation Food Security and Reconciliation (GTZ/FSR) has ended a ten-day facilitation and moderation training workshop for their technical staff in Kenema.
The workshop, which was facilitated by the Evaluation Development Research Association Consultancy (EDRA), took place at BIRD –SL in Kenema.
Giving the background of the training the programme manager, Karl Heinz Eyrich, said the GTZ-Food Security and Reconciliation project (GTZ/FSR) was first established in Sierra Leone in 2003.
“Over a four-year period it has been engaged in variety of activities, mainly in the agricultural, health and nutrition, water and sanitation sectors. According to the bilateral cooperation agreement between the government of Sierra Leone and the Federal Republic of Germany, this project is scheduled to end at the close of 2008. The project is already planning its exist strategy, which must ensure the maximum utilization of the existing resources including the current staff,” he noted.
The project officer, Rex Mohamed Kenneh, said the workshop was to build the capacity of the technical staff in moderation and facilitation of workshops.
During the workshop the GTZ/FSR staff in Kenema held a day’s meeting with members of the amputees and war wounded association at the court barray at Norway Town.
Explaining about the purpose of the meeting with the amputees and war wounded, Mr Kenneh stated that it was to determine the achievements and constraints of groundnut cultivation and to identify strategies for the sustainability of sub-project, adding that GTZ/FSR would not stay with them forever.
He encouraged them to honestly bring out their achievements and constraints and that they would enhance sustainability.
Explaining about their achievements and constraints in groundnut cultivation, the chairman of the amputees and war wounded association Solomon Cooper thanked GTZ/FSR for their numerous supports.
He said for this year’s planting season GTZ/FSR gave them 28 bushels of groundnut and 80 hoes for cultivation.
Mr Solomon Cooper said they had brushed, burned and cleared the 5.5 acres of land and had planted about nine plots in which each plot contained 30 cups of groundnut.
Talking about their problems, he said five bags of the groundnut supplied them were spoiled and that there were not enough lands for their work because some of the lands had been demarcated for other purposes. He therefore requested food for work, a store, and a dry floor to be provided them at their settlement. Meanwhile at the closing session of the workshop, the consultant Sahr Ngegba called on participants to make sure that the knowledge gained during the workshop would go a long way with them in their lives. Distribution of certificates climaxed the workshop.
ADVERTISEMENT