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More than 40,000 vulnerable farming families in Sierra Leone's eastern districts of Kono and Kailahun have received seeds, farm tools and other essential items from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ICRC reported on Friday.
ICRC said the two-month distribution, its largest ever in eastern Sierra Leone, was aimed at boosting the limited resources of farmers returning to their homes and providing them with the means to resume food production as soon as possible. It quoted one of the returnees, acting section chief Tamba Nyandemo of Dangbaidu, in Kono's Sandor chiefdom, as saying that it was the first assistance they were receiving. "Since we returned to our devastated homes, this is the first time we have been helped by a humanitarian organisation," Nyandemo said.
In addition to the seeds and farm tools, 13,383 of the poorest families in Kailahun and 11,810 in Kono received tarpulin, blankets, mats, kitchen sets, buckets, mosquito nets, mugs, soap and used clothes.
ICRC worked in close cooperation with the Sierra Leone Red Cross, Sierra Leone's agriculture ministry and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to procure seed that met the ministry's standards.
An agreement was also reached with the UN World Food Programme to provide beneficiaries with one month's food rations to ensure that the seeds were planted and not eaten, the release added.
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