The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has handed over 80 push bikes and other supplies pegged at K16 million to 40 Community Based Facilitators of Neno and Mwanza districts in a bid to ease mobility and promote climate smart agriculture in the districts.

The push bikes have been given to the CBFs after the Neno district council noticed that most field school farmers were unable to travel to other hard to reach places to educate the people on modern agriculture.

 

FAO program officer for Neno and Mwanza Audrey Sidik says the bikes are meant to ensure that the community based facilitators are able to reach more field school farmers with modern farming technologies and promote food security.

 

"We want to promote climate smart agriculture amid climate change issues affecting our agriculture sector hence we trained 40 field school based facilitators for 21 days on modern farming," he said.

 

He added that, for the trainings to bear fruits, they identified 40 Community Based Facilitators who are already teaching 30 other field school farmers in all the four Traditional Authorities of Neno who have been given the bikes to further educate indirect farmers.

 

"These CBFs are teaching conservation agriculture like rain water harvest, making of swaleys and box ridges so that they retain all the water and essential soil nutrients," added Sidik.

 

On her part, Neno District Principal Agriculture officer Mayamiko Diana Zambezi underscored the importance of the Facilitators saying they compliment agriculture extension workers who are few to reach a mass population.

 

She said that " these CBF's are important in ensuring that more farmers are reached with smart climate agriculture. Agriculture extension workers are few and can not reach all the farmers hence our approach with these CBF's".

 

Meanwhile, Neno District Commissioner Hudson Kuphanga and Funny Masaya a CBF, pledged to ensure that the bikes are put to good use while appealing to other farmers to adopt smart climate agriculture to mitigate climate change shocks.

 

Kuphanga has since asked the facilitators to put to good use the donated bikes and desist from abuse.

 

But Masaya who was all smiles after receiving her bike said now mobility has been eased saying they will reach more field school farmers and others with modern farming.

 

FAO is working with the Neno district council through the agriculture department to ensure that the district adopt smart climate agriculture and become food secure.