ACA Celebrates National Farmers Day With Awards to Female Farmers
This year National Farmer’s Day celebrations occurred on Friday November 4th. The National Farmer’s Day event in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District was held with the support of the African Cashew Alliance. The celebration was scheduled to start at 9 am and the venue was fully packed to capacity for the ceremony.
Participants included chiefs, representatives from five different press houses, school children, public servants, traders, members of civil society organizations, representatives from five political parties, and both farmers and fishermen. There truly was a diverse turnout for the event.
The celebration included an exhibition of farm and agro based products as well as an award ceremony during which forty awards were given to farmers. The awards included tricycles, motorcycles, bicycles, mist blowers, roofing sheets, wellington boots, jute sacks, cutlasses, and mosquito nets as well as other items. The awards were split into twenty minor and twenty major. Women won seven of the major awards and three of these were given by ACA. The awards given by ACA included one mist blower, three pairs of wellington boots, three cutlasses, four pruning saws, one carton of weedicide, and two knapsack sprayers.
Both the honorable District Chief Executive and the District Director of Agriculture thanked ACA in their speeches for partnering with them to make the occasion successful. The DCE mentioned the importance of the ACA’s awards being targeted at women and at an industry that is fast becoming the most reliable cash income source for farm families in the district. Each woman received a standing ovation from the crowd as they came to receive their award.
The chair of the function appealed to the men of the district, asking that women are included as a part of the development process, particularly when it comes to agricultural business. He also asked women of the district to look to the female awardees as role models from whom they can learn.
The celebration was a great success and ACA looks forward to the next year’s ceremony.
